


Dive bar on the east side

by Bluejay720



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Bartender AU, Bartender Hope, Eventual Maya x Lizzie, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Past Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman, Slow Burn, drunk Josie, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 65,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25075804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluejay720/pseuds/Bluejay720
Summary: Why did Satan have to consume her thoughts? Her dreams? Her mind? Her entire existence!?!?Life would be so much easier if the seductress stopped facilitating every moment of her very being and let her live out the rest of her days in peace."I'm sorry gorgeous, but customers can't be back here."Josie turns around in shock, nearly falling over from her squatting position. Her brown eyes meet blue, and suddenly Penelope is no longer on her mind.ORPenelope broke up with Josie three months ago, and she's not over it.Enter Hope Mikaelson, bartender extraordinaire, who makes Josie forget all about her past relationship.I'm back =)
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Maya Machado/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 442
Kudos: 854





	1. Chapter 1

Josie plops down on the couch in her apartment. She groans at the day she just had, wanting nothing more than to curl up by the fire with a glass of wine. Or a bottle. Honestly, whichever got her to forget everything the fastest.

She proceeds to take off her heels, hearing the slight clang as they hit the floor unceremoniously. 

She groans loudly at the cool leather against her skin. She loved her job, she got to meet amazing people and help others, but days like these were hard.

Her boss worked as a secretary for the CEO of Tribrid Corporation, Josie was the secretaries secretaries secretary. 

Which, considering how big Tribrid Co was, she was relatively high up on the food chain. 

But today consisted of being on her feet all day and running around everywhere. She had to pick up so many things for a banquet that is coming up within the month that has everyone on edge. 

This banquet would be a massive help for the rich of the city to invest in a charity the company supports. 

Tribrid is a science company that helps advance different medical sciences and sells them to investors and buyers.

Josie's mind slowly shut off as her breathing begins to even. Tiredness behind her eyes made them droop closed as she drifted off to sleep.

Her world was interrupted by a loud pounding on her apartment door. She squeezes her eyes tighter, willing whoever was knocking to go away.

"Josie!? I know your home!! Open up the door!!" 

She groans even more at her sister's voice. She knew that a night in to sulk about the breakup and work was too much to ask for. 

She finally gets up when Lizzie pounds the door even harder and calls even louder. 

"Gosh, Lizzie! You're going to make my neighbors complain about the noise! Why are you knocking! This is why I gave you a key!" 

Lizzie ignores her and waltzes through the door, scoffing as she goes. "The last time I came in unannounced, I was scarred. You still owe me for my therapy bills. I never want to know anything about my sister's sex life again."

Josie can feel her cheeks redden slightly at the memory. Lizzie wasn't the only one scarred. 

She looks Josie up and down. "Why are you not dressed? I told you we were going to try that new bar on 12th." 

Scowling even further, Josie huffs and closes the door. 

"I'm really not feeling up to partying Lizzie, I want a night in."

"Oh please, tell me you are not going to stay in and cry about Satan more than you already have."

Josie's pout furthers as she gives her sister a look of betrayal. "I'm in mourning!"

Rolling her eyes, she grabs her twins wrist and pulls her towards Josie's bedroom. 

"Seriously Jo, how much mourning can a girl go through? It was three months ago." She emphasizes her point by pushing Josie on the bed and opening her closest. 

Josie lets herself be pushed, groaning aloud at her sister's utter lack of empathy towards the breakup. 

A minute later, Lizzie appears triumphantly holding a black dress like a trophy out to Josie.

"Aha! Okay, so here's the game plan. You are going to change into this dress that makes you look incredible, put on those heels that mom got you for our birthday, and we are going to the bar." 

She doesn't give Josie time to protest as she walks out the door and leaves her to change. 

Her voice while muffles slightly can still be heard through the ruffling of the closet. "We're going to get you laid tonight! Lord knows you need it."

Sighing at her sister's antics, she begins to get dressed.

'how can life hate me so much? All I wanted to do was relax.' She pouts further as she puts on the dress.

Lizzie helps Josie get ready and touches up her makeup, and within the hour, they are out the door.

"Mg and Rafael are already there waiting for us."

They walk quickly, and within ten minutes, they are in front of a slightly shady-looking building. With a few people standing in line out front, the words Wolf out stand ablaze in a blue glow. There's also a wolf howling at the moon for emphasis

The outside is nice… sort of. A typical bar, if you will, but also it looks as if bikers come here on the regular and where people lose teeth in bar fights. 

Josie comes to a stop, hesitation clear in her features. 

"This is the new bar Mg is taking us too? I am going to have to reevaluate his definition of 'New' this place looks like a physical manifestation of an STD." The blonde huffing as she and Josie stand in the small line. 

"Maybe it's not that bad, it's rustic?" She tries to put some positive spin on this, but Lizzie is right, the bar doesn't look welcoming exactly nor the kind of place Mg would frequent. Let alone the twins. 

When they get to the bouncer and hand him their ID's he looks at both of them suspiciously. 

"Yes, I know my sister looks twelve. I assure you we're both over 21." Lizzie snatches back her and Josie's ID's and pushes past the bouncer. He grunts as he's forced out of the way.

"Lizzie! You can't just push past the bouncer!" 

"He didn't stop us. Oh! there's Mg." She continues to drag the girls over to where Mg is currently. 

"Hello ladies, you are looking fine tonight."

Though Mg said this to both girls, his eyes stay on Lizzie. 

"Oh! I got you guys some drinks!" He hands them to the girls, and the night begins.

The bar actually looks nicer and well kept on the inside. People of all different types are around drinking, and the place resembles more of a club than a bar. 

Rafael comes to join them, having gotten sidetracked by a brunette over by the bar. 

The fresh feeling of her fruity drink washes down her throat as she drowns the last sip of her drink.

The drink was her favorite that Mg got here, a mix of fruit and juice that made the alcohol taste amazing. 

"I'm going to go get another drink, okay?" she practically has to yell over the sound of the music playing. This place definitely was like a club.

Lizzie barely nods her head and waves Josie off as she spends more time searching the room for a conquest than listening to Mg talk.

Josie is up and standing to wade through the many people that crowd around the dance floor. 

She nearly gags at all the couples grinding against each other. A small part of her brain reveals that she's being a hypocrite since she and Penelope did that whenever they went out to drink.

Flushing slightly at the memories, she continues to push past the people.

It takes way too long, but finally, she sees the bar in sight. 

Just as she's making her way through the last bits of people, she makes it to the bar and waits for a bartender to take her order.

She glances around and nearly chokes when her eyes land on who comes in through the door.

Josie's heart was not equipped to handle seeing her ex for the first time since the night they had broken up. 

Penelope, of course, looked stunning as always, wearing a dress that clings to every curve. She had her entourage behind her and walked with confidence as if owning the entire place.

Eyes wide and frantic, like a mouse that a cat was about to find. It was only a matter of seconds before Penelope would look at the bar and make her way towards Josie. 

She would not let that happen tonight. 

Without thinking of a plan, Josie pushes herself to the end of the bar and slips behind.

She doesn't see any bartenders at the moment, doesn't even remember who was working, she thinks there were two girls. 

They're both gone now, as Josie lowers herself against the floor, her heels making it hard for her to stay balanced.

The bar area is actually quite big for a bar and was roomy with plenty of walking space, so the bartenders don't feel crowded. On the other side of where Josie hides is a door that presumably leads to a lounge area or kitchen.

Josie, chances a look, slowly pushing herself off the wall and glances above the bar. She gets a glimpse of black hair and quickly plummets to the ground. 

Her legs are starting to wobble from the awkward angle and having to support her weight in heels. 

She presses her forehead against the wood of a drawer. The coolness warming her rapidly heating forehead. 

That was also when Josie began to despise Penelope even further.

Why did Satan have to consume her thoughts? Her dreams? Her mind? Her entire existence!?!? 

Life would be so much easier if the seductress stopped facilitating every moment of her very being and let her live out the rest of her days in peace. 

"I'm sorry gorgeous, but customers can't be back here."

Josie turns around in shock, nearly falling over from her squatting position. Her brown eyes meet blue, and suddenly Penelope is no longer on her mind.

She stays squatted and opens her mouth to speak, but no words have come out. 

She stays like that gaping open mouth by the beautiful girl in front of her. She's dressed in a leather jacket and jeans. And really makes the leather jacket work.

As if her mind finally rebooted like an old-timey computer who needed five minutes to warm up before use. Her brain apparently went into overdrive because she couldn't stop the ramble that left her lips.

"I'm so sorry, I know I'm not supposed to be back here, but I panicked, and this was the only way to not be seen. My ex is here, and this would be the first time I will have seen her since the breakup, and I don't think my heart could take it."

The bartender, not expecting any of that is staring at her with eyes slightly wide. However, Josie was not done with her ramble; the alcohol she had was working wonders in loosening her tongue. 

"And It's been three months, and I know I should move on, but I don't think I'm emotionally prepared to see her again. Like at all. Can I stay hidden behind here for a few minutes until I get my sister's attention? She dragged me out tonight I don't even want to be here."

"Okay, okay, how about you take a deep breath." The auburn-haired girl leans down and kneels beside Josie.

Josie does as told and breathes deeply, inhaling as much oxygen as her body could hold.

She releases and breathes again, calming down a considerable amount. 

"Thank you, I was starting to talk myself into a panic." 

The girl gives her a genuine smile. Josie can feel herself blush with how beautiful this woman is, and at having her full attention.

The bartender stands up and surveys the room, searching for something. "What does she look like?" 

Before Josie can answer, she answers her own question. "Oop, I found her." 

Josie scowls. "How do you know? You don't even know what she looks like." 

The bartender smirks slightly, glancing down at her and shrugs. "I'm good at reading people. And you easily have a type." 

Josie starts to get up ever so slightly as she did before to sneak a quick peek. She almost wants the bartender to be wrong with the smug and cocky grin on her face.

The girl steps closer to her and sets a hand on her left hip, and points out one Penelope Park.

"How in the world did you guess that?!"

She shrugs again, smirk still set in place. "I told you, I'm good at reading people and sexy black haired diva? That is almost too perfect for a sexy tall angel."

Josie can feel her face heating up. Red tints her cheeks as she looks away. "That doesn't even make sense!"

She wishes the bartender would stop looking at her like that. As if she wants to eat her.

"Oh darling, it really does make sense. I'm guessing you have a thing for mysterious people who are also probably bitchy or mean. And damaged in some way. You seem like the type of person who enjoys a bad girl."

She opens her mouth to contest the bartender's statement but stops to actually think. Rafael had been her first boyfriend, damaged and mysterious check. Jade fell into all the above categories, as did Penelope. 

When she comes up with nothing, she glares slightly at the smugness on the bartender's face. She crosses her arms and pouts, turning away from the girl. She's still conscious about Penelope seeing her, so she drops down to behind the bar in a crouch, so she's not seen.

"Don't you have customers to serve?" She says with some bite.

"Oh? Did I hit spot on?" She moves to step closer to Josie, right in front of her. There's a teasing lilt to the bartender's voice, and Josie really shouldn't be looking at her from this angle because it is sending her mind to dangerous waters. 

She chooses to ignore the bartender and pulls out her phone to text Lizzie. 

She feels a presence drop-down next to her, which she presumes is the bartender. 

"So, sunshine, what's the plan?" 

She stops her typing and looks at the gorgeous woman beside her. Huffing slightly, she goes back to her phone without answering.

The bartender is obviously not enjoying being ignored and slides closer to Josie, almost touching the girl. 

She can feel the heat from the girl's arm right next to hers, almost touching. 

"Who's Lizzie? Is that your BFF?" 

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, "she's my sister, we came with some friends today." 

The bartender hums at the answer but doesn't add anything further. She does lean even closer though trying to read over the text.

"You know, you could do your job, I'll be out of your hair as soon as I possibly can." 

She looks over at the redhead and sees a dopey half-smile on her face. "no way can I just 'go back to work' I'm invested now and have to see how this pans out." 

Josie giggles slightly, "pans out, that's a little too perfect word choice." 

The redhead's mouth turns downward slightly in confusion. "I'm pansexual." Josie's chuckles as the realization dawns in the other's eyes.

"I'm bisexual." The bartender said in return, the dopey grin back in full swing.

Josie can't help but return the look, checking her phone to see if Lizzie texted back but seeing no response. 

"Maybe I should just chance the run to outside and head back to my apartment. It'll be fine, it's only like a ten-minute walk anyway. And if I'm fast enough, I won't see Penelope either."

The smile slips off the shorter girl's face. She opens her mouth to speak, but Josie starts to stand up.

She darts back down quickly as if she had seen a ghost. "Oh, god! I can't believe she's coming over here now!" She turns to the bartender and grabs the lapels of her leather jacket. 

"You have to get rid of her!"

She smirks slightly at the visible pleading in the other's voice. "I could get rid of her, but what's in it for me?" 

They're inches away from each other, breathing the same air.

"Please?" Josie bites her lip and looks into the bartender's eyes with no small amount of desperation.

"Of course, darling, just give me a second." She stands up to full height and sees the one and only Penelope standing in front of her, arms stretched out along the bar.

"Hey, sorry about the wait, what can I get you?" 

Penelope looks up and down what she can see of the bartender and smirks.

"Whiskey. With service like you, it's no wonder this place is crowded."

She chuckles at the way she can feel Josie tense at the girl's voice and words. Deciding to mess with the brunette below, she leans forward, so she's half bent over the bar, leaning closer to the black-haired girl.

"Getting to help beautiful women such as yourself, make the job all too easy." 

Josie scowls even further at the bartender, feeling a possessiveness take hold of her. She doesn't hear what her ex-girlfriend says in reply. However, she understands the hitch in the sexy bartender's voice when she drags her nails down her jean-covered thigh.

The tight skinny jeans doing nothing but amplify the girl's touch. Patterns are drawn along her thigh and get dangerously high up her leg. 

Josie keeps up her administrations, enjoying when the bartender has to clear her throat and shifts. 

Her smile grows when it seems the redhead's voice has taken a slightly higher pitch. 

She moves to grab a drink and begins to pour while still talking with Penelope. Josie can't hear any words but feels the adrenaline rushing through her ears at being this close to her ex. 

And also the crazy beautiful bartender who is not helping her heart rate.

When the girl steps closer to Josie, she continues her administration on her thigh. She scrapes her nails down and hears Penelope say a parting goodbye.

A few moments pass before the redhead clears her throat. "She's gone, you can come up now." 

Before Josie has a chance to actually get up, another bartender looks at both girls, taking in their position. 

She stops and catches the redhead's eye and gives her a look. "Am I interrupting?" There's a playful look in her eye. 

Josie stands up and says, "no." At the same time, the bartender says, "yes." 

Josie shoots a look at the redhead. "It wasn't what it looked like, and you're not interrupting. I was just leaving."

She turns to her bartender and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for helping me, I'm going to head home. My sister just texted and said they're waiting for me outside."

A sense of sadness and loss of opportunity wash across both girls, as they frown slightly. As Josie turns to leave, she's stopped. 

"Wait!" A hand reaches to touch her arm, stopping her from leaving. 

"Will you come back here sometime?" 

Josie pauses for a second, not sure what to answer. After a second, she nods. "I'll be back."

"My name's Hope, by the way."

"Josie." They share a smile, and Josie proceeds to leave from behind the bar. Hope's eyes don't leave her until she walks out the door. 

Josie turns at the last second and catches Hope's eye one last time before leaving. 

With a deep sigh, she turns back to Maya, who was watching the entire interaction with a smirk, she raises her eyebrow in question.

"So, who's the girl?"

\-----------

Josie exits the bar and sees Lizzie, Mg, and Rafael standing outside talking. 

"Hey, you guys didn't have to leave, I didn't want to end your night." She's started to worry her lip between her teeth, a pout already forming.

"No, don't worry about it, the bar was pretty boring anyway." Raf tried to reassure her. It helped a little bit.

"Did you see the devil spawn?" 

Josie nods her head, "she didn't see me though, I hid behind the bar."

Lizzie accepts the answer, and all four of them begin to walk towards Rafael's car. They dropped Josie off first since she was closest. 

Saying her goodbyes, she waves and heads into her apartment, glad to be done with the night. Her mind begins to wander to red hair and a cocky smile. 

She sleeps that night, thinking over their strange interaction. It's the first time in a long time she doesn't even think about Penelope as she drifts off to sleep. Replaced with blue eyes and a leather jacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! Catch me on twitter @Bluejay720


	2. Chapter 2

Josie stands outside the building, pacing back and forth. 

'Should I go in?'

She had made a split-second decision to walk towards the bar she had fled from a week ago. 

She had wanted to go back in hopes of seeing the bartender from before. Bar's were never her thing, definitely not a place she went alone at 6pm on a Friday night. 

Her entire week had been tough. Work decided to run from zero to a hundred the whole time, Josie was exhausted. 

The closer the fundraiser got, the more crazy everyone had gotten.

So here she was, alone and in desperate need of a drink. 

And maybe a wish to see a pretty girl.

The courage she had when she left her apartment had dissipated, leaving her stranded.

There was no bouncer this time and no line with how early it was. Probably the only people there right now were regulars.

'She might not even be there. And if she is, what can I say?'

Her lip is worried between her mouth as she contemplates her life decisions once again.

She turns around towards the door with a deep breath and walks through. 

The bar looks nothing like it did at night. There's barely anyone in there other than a few people scattered around at tables. 

Behind the bar, drying a glass stands the redhead, or Hope as she had told Josie.

She looks up at the sound of someone entering the bar. She starts to smile when seeing that it's Josie that came in.

"You came back, I didn't think I'd see you again." 

Josie smiles as she sits down in front of her while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. 

"I would've come sooner, but work decided to not let me leave anytime before eight this week." 

Hope has that dopey look on her face again. "Awe, you just couldn't stay away from my natural charm, could you?" 

"I don't know, I haven't seen anything very charming about you." 

The girl dramatically gasps and puts her hand over her heart. 

'She reminds me of Lizzie, drama queen.'

"I'll have you know that I am full of charm!" 

"I'm sure you are, but I haven't seen any." Josie shrugs her shoulders and leans closer to Hope. 

"I'll have to show you just how charming I can actually be." 

As if remembering something, Hope's eyes widen for a second. "Hey, I didn't take your order yet, what do you want to drink?" 

"Oh, I'm not a big drinker, surprise me?" 

Hope nods and smiles, moving around the bar with a confidence that makes her seem comfortable and at home. 

Josie gets the slight feeling that the bartender might be showing off just a little as she does a quick flip of one of the containers.

Finally, after mixing a drink, she puts it in front of Josie and watches her expectantly. 

The mix is blue and looks delicious. She takes a hesitant sip and almost gasps at the flavor.

"Hope! This is amazing, what is it?" The dopey grin is back in full swing. 

"It's called Hope, actually, named after me." She shrugs as if it's no big deal. 

Seeing an opportunity open, Josie jumps through.

"Well, you taste delicious." She says, feeling way too confident. 

She feels even better at the red that is creeping up along Hope's face, reveling in it the color.

The smugness doesn't last long when Hope leans close to her over the bar.

"The real thing tastes even better." She cements it with a wink and saunters off to the back, leaving Josie to splutter.

She's only gone for a minute, enough time for Josie to enjoy the flavor of 'Hope.'

"So, what brings you to this fine establishment?" The bartender starts as she makes her way back to Josie. 

"Work has been killing me the past couple weeks. I decided I deserved a drink for putting up with everything."

Hope listens attentively as she cleans another glass. "No friends or sister this time?" 

"I wanted to be alone tonight. Maybe drown my sorrows a bit." She emphasizes this by drinking another sip of her drink. The alcohol rushes through her body, already feeling a buzz. 

"Oh? And what sorrows fill that pretty head of yours." 

Josie tries to fight the blush at the comment, not wanting to give the bartender the satisfaction. She fails miserably, given the smirk that grows as Josie looks away. 

"Work mostly. We have a huge event coming up, and it doesn't help that my "partner" decides to flirt with anything that moves rather than do his job." 

Hope hums as she's cleaning, letting Josie know she's listening. "And because of that, I have to pick up the slack and do double the work! It's infuriating." She has a pout that's formed since she's started talking. She looks up at Hope as if expecting some advice. 

"Has anyone ever told you that you look adorable when you're angry." 

That makes Josie's pout deepen, and a scowl added. "I do not!" 

"Like a bunny that doesn't get its way " 

"You're not helping. Aren't bartenders supposed to offer advice and be good listeners." 

The redhead puts up her hand to cover her mouth, trying to hide a smile. "I can't help it, you're just so cute."

She glares slightly more, her pout not going away. 

Deciding to change the subject, Hope asks, "so, how did things go with your ex? Did you manage to get out of here without her seeing you?" 

"I did, thank you, by the way, for letting me hide behind the bar. She would have seen me had it not been for you."

Hope nods and gives Josie a genuine smile. "No problem, I'm glad I could help. I know all about ex's and how much it can hurt to see them." 

She gets a faraway look in her eyes, shaking her head, she turns back to Josie and grinning. "So, is drinking your sorrows the only reason why you came back?" 

Josie pauses before answering, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess you could say that." She takes a sip of her drink while watching the bartender. 

Her gaze goes from the pretty blue eyes to her killer jawline. One of the regulars comes at the other end of the bar, asking for a refill. Hope smiles at Josie and walks over to him and gets him his drink.

While she is with the other customer, Josie allows herself to admire the bartender. She's wearing a black tank top that shows off her incredible back muscles. She's also wearing skinny jeans that are practically painted on with how tight they are.

Her lip bites down on the straw in her drink as Hope finishes with the other customer.

She only stays at the bar for about an hour and a half. As the sun started to set, more people began to come in. She makes small talk with Hope for most of her time there. The redhead enjoys getting her flustered and says progressively suggestive things that have her sputtering constantly. 

She leaves the bar feeling lighter than she's had in weeks. That might have something to do with the few drinks she had that got her buzzed, or how the other girl watched her with an intensity she's never seen before. Either way, she feels good.

She continues to go back to the bar anytime she can, after work. Josie prefers to come when there are not many customers. Because she doesn't like crowds. It has nothing to do with Hope giving her attention to other people rather than Josie. It has nothing to do with that at all. 

So what if she enjoys having those deep blue eyes on her? Or whenever she's with Hope she never even thinks about Penelope? It doesn't mean anything.

She enjoys the company of the other girl and learning small details about her life. 

After a week of absolute solitude with the bar and Hope, she knew her paradise would end.

"Josette Saltzman!"

She had just gotten through the door of her apartment, barely two steps in, and already was being yelled out. 

Lizzie in all her blonde haired glory waltzes towards her. She had made herself comfortable on Josie's couch if the glass of wine is anything to go by.

"Lizzie, what are you doing here? In my apartment?" 

"Is that any way to speak to your sister? I haven't seen you all week. And you're the one who gave me a spare key."

Josie moves away from Lizzie, starting to walk to her room. "Which is a decision I'm beginning to regret." 

A noise of indignation leaves Lizzie's mouth as Josie closes the door behind her.

"Josette! You better be changing into something hot! We're going out tonight." 

She opens the door again and settles her sister with a glare. "We will not be going out, I just got back." 

She shuts the door on Lizzie again. Her sister is silent for a moment, and Josie honestly feels relieved. Maybe for once, she's won an argument against her sister.

"I'm calling sister code." 

That makes Josie stop stripping. She's barely taken off her heels and jacket when she turns around and opens the door again. 

"No. You are not pulling that card again." 

Josie might be stubborn, but Lizzie was an entire class above her own. She couldn't compete. 

"I am calling sister code Jo, and you can't stop me. We are going out tonight." 

Josie flops down on the bed again, a groan leaving her lips at Lizzie's tone. There's no way she can get out of this.

Flash forward to them outside the bar Josie was just at a few hours prior. Now with a line of people.

"Mg wanted to come back here again since we didn't get to 'experience it properly' the first time, whatever that means. There's not much to experience in this run-down building." The blonde eyes the old building with a mix of disinterest and disgust.

"I don't know, the place does have a nice… ambiance to it?" 

Her comment gets her a side-eye from Lizzie. "I would have thought you would have put up a bigger fight coming back here. What with seeing Satan and all." 

Josie can already feel the panic set in on her features at her sister's scrutinizing look. 

"Now that I'm thinking about it, you haven't even mentioned she who shall not be named since before the bar incident."

She tries to school her features to not give anything away. She knows she failed miserably when Lizzie gasps as if solving life's greatest mystery.

"You're seeing someone." 

It's said as a statement, not a question. She can already feel the blush rise to her face at the mere thought.

"No, I'm n---" 

"Don't you dare lie to me, Josette, the twin sense has been tweaked. Tell me the truth."

She avoids Lizzie's gaze and is thankfully saved from answering by their turn to show the bouncer their ID's. 

They're ushered through without hassle for once, and Josie is making a beeline for where she can already see Mg and Rafael sitting. Desperately hoping that Lizzie doesn't say anything else. 

Her Hope is squashed and destroyed when they get to the table. "So, dearest sister, are you going to us who the person you've been seeing is?" 

"You're seeing someone, Jo?" Rafael asks. She sends Lizzie a glare, grinding her teeth down. 

"No, I'm not, Lizzie is being delusional." 

Josie looks over to the bar and sees Hope working on taking orders, her usual leather jacket in place. 

She stands abruptly, her chair scraping the ground, making her friends jump and look at her. 

"I'm going to get drinks, what do you guys want?" 

Lizzie doesn't give her an out. She puts a hand on Josie's shoulder for her to sit back down. The fight leaves her at Lizzie's pointed look. 

"Who are they?" 

She tries not to look, she really does, but Josie glances towards the bar where Hope is dutifully taking orders and looking amazing. 

"Are they here?" Lizzie asks and flips around to where Josie was looking, catching her gaze and as her entire face lights up in understanding. 

"So strawberry shortcake over there?" A cackle leaves Lizzie's lips.

Josie feels entirely uncomfortable with her sister's killer gaze on her. She looks to Mg and Rafael for help, but they both shrug, not wanting to get into it with Lizzie. They both at least look mildly apologetic.

"We might have had a bit of a connection when we were all here last time."

"A connection?" The eyebrow raised did not help lower Josie's blush. 

"I flirted with her a little bit." The scoff Lizzie gives leaves Josie slightly offended "you? Flirted with her? That's something I'd like to see." 

A scowl forms. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"You have an inability to flirt, Josette. It's like anytime a pretty girl even looks your way, you gay panic yourself into a spiral." 

"I can flirt! Back me up, Mg!" He immediately holds his hands up and backs away, shaking his head. "Sorry, Jo, there's no way I'm getting in the middle of you guys." 

"Remember when you met Penelope? All she had to do was wink at you, and you ran into the wall. Or Jade, she offered to carry your books, which you then dropped everywhere." 

"Jade doesn't count! She was older than me in school, and she was sweet!" Lizzie gives her a pointed look. "Maybe so, it doesn't change the fact, dearest sister, that you lose all social skills and communication ability the second a pretty girl looks at you. You are the definition of gay panic." 

"That's not true! I can flirt if I need too!"

"Prove it then. Go get your newest Paramore's number, if you're so keen on your flirting abilities." 

"Fine! I will." Josie makes way for Hope, who has no idea what's coming for her. 

As Josie gets further away, Mg looks at Lizzie. "Did you have to push her so hard?" 

Lizzie watches as Josie gets closer to the bar. "It's for her own good. Lord knows she would probably pine after the girl for the next few months without making a move. At least this way, she's not thinking about satan incarnate." 

Josie slows down as she gets closer to the bar, her bravado diminishing the closer she gets. "I need your help." She doesn't even say hello to Hope as she sits down at the bar. Hope looks slightly surprised but shifts to a smile upon seeing Josie. 

"Hello to you, too, darling. Back again so soon?" She can already feel the red touching her cheeks, but determination helps her not to falter.

"I need you to give me your number." There's a definitive surprise. "Oh?" The dam breaks before Josie can stop it. 

"Okay so my friends keep mocking me and saying I can't flirt with pretty girls, which I can by the way, and now I have to prove myself and show them I can flirt just fine, thank you very much. So I need you to laugh like I just said something funny, and then give me your number." 

She sets her facial expressions into what she hopes is a determined warrior but looks more like a cute duckling. 

Hope lets out a laugh that has Josie reveling in the noise. "So, you think I'm pretty?" If Josie hadn't been red before, she'd been now. 

"That's all you got from that?" The look Hope gives her is predatory. She leans in and rests her hand on Josie's arm. Heat from her touch feels burns her arm but, at the same time, is warm and so so soft. 

Her thumb begins to run small circles across Josie's arm, and she's weak. "I need an answer, Jo, do you think I'm pretty?" There is no small amount of teasing in her voice. It would be infuriating if it wasn't attractive. 

"Maybe." She mutters, her voice is barely audible. Hope leans forward, impossibly closer. "Sorry, didn't catch that." 

'She's so smug.' 

"Do you want me to wear a plaque that says 'I, Josie Saltzman find Hope, I don't know your last name, attractive and is the most gorgeous woman I have ever met?'" 

Hope's smugness only grows, but not without a slight red covering her cheeks at Josie's words. "That would be a claim to fame. And Mikaelson." 

At her, confusion Hope continues. "My last name, it's Mikaelson." 

"Hope Mikaelson." She tries it on her tongue, her lips curl into a genuine smile, a child tasting candy for the first time. She clears her throat and begins again. 

"Will you Hope Mikaelson, give me the honor of having your number?" Instead of answering, Hope moves to grab a piece of paper and a pen, writing down a few things and handing them to Josie. A customer walks over, requesting a beer. Hope grabs one, giving it to them and comes back over to Josie. 

"Maybe your friends will believe you can flirt now." Having forgotten her sister and their teasing, Josie is full of fire once more. 

"Right? I can flirt!" Hope hums, "if I was a teacher, I'd give you a B+.'' 

Outrage and indignation cross Josie's face, but Hope doesn't give her a chance to respond before continuing. 

"If you want more practice, you should continue coming back. Maybe it'll bump that B+ to an A-" she winks and walks off to take the order of the next customer as they sit down at the bar. 

Hope's teasing is sending Josie's mind to a dangerous place. Biting her lip, she looks at the paper with Hope's handwriting. She should be mad that Hope only gave her a B. 

The good overachieving student in her feels outraged to be given anything less than an A. She smiles nonetheless and glances at Hope once again before returning to her friends and sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!!! 💙


	3. Chapter 3

Her phone vibrates in her lap; she had thankfully taken the sound off before entering the room. 

The meeting she was in was about the last few preparations she and the team needed to finish. It had been going on for the past hour and a half, and barely anything was done. 

She shifts in her seat so she can glance at her phone to see the text. 

Hope: How many tickles does it take for an Octopus to laugh?!?!

Hope: Ten-tickles :D 

Josie has to bite her lip to stop the snort that almost leaves her mouth. Gosh, Hope was such a dork.

Rolling her eyes, she turns her focus back to the speaker, clicking off her phone. 

Her and Hope had been texting the past two weeks nonstop. Hope almost always was texting her during the day and night. If Josie hadn't seen her work her job multiple times, she'd have thought the girl didn't have one. 

When Hope was particularly bored, she would delight in sending Josie dad jokes. They all were so terrible, but for Hope, she would suffer through all of them.

Her phone buzzes against her leg once again. She makes the same motion of shifting in her seat and glancing down at the screen. There's another buzz following after the first. 

Hope: Are you coming by today?? 

Hope: You should come by today. Work is always better when you're there.

That makes Josie's heart flutter. Her and Hope, when they've been texting, have progressively gotten closer. While the first few days Hope was more guarded with her information, Josie had made vast amounts of progress. They still had a lot to learn about the other, but they were getting there. 

A quick glance up, she begins to text back. She felt like a teenager again trying to hide her phone in class, hoping the teacher didn't catch her.

Josie: Maybe, depends on how long this meeting lasts. 

She gets a text back within seconds. 

Hope: =(

Hope: but I miss you!!! 

She can feel heat rising to her cheeks as she reads over the text. She shuts her phone off quickly and glances back at the meeting. Which was starting to wrap up while she had been focusing on Hope.

She quickly gathers her things as they finish and shuffles out of the room. 

She turns on her phone and sends a quick text back before heading straight to the bar. 

Josie: be there in 30 <3

Hope: :D :D :D 

Josie chuckles as she reads over their conversation. Hope was honestly so adorable. She was part sexy bartender who could kick ass and part lovable dork.

Josie was enjoying seeing both sides of the redhead. 

She didn't go change at her apartment and decided to head straight to the bar. When she got to the building, it was still early out, no bouncer this time. 

With a deep breath, she walks through the door. 

The bartender looks her way as she's drying a glass. 

The smile Josie had fallen slightly. This was the bartender that had walked in on Hope and her the first time. She had only seen her in passing since then and surprisingly hadn't been introduced to her yet. 

"Hey, welcome, or whatever." 

Josie waves back and takes a seat. "I'm Maya, by the way. What can I get you?" 

Josie thinks for a second. "I'm Josie, do you know if Hope is here?"

Realization lights up on Maya's face. "Josie Saltzman?" She nods in confirmation, a smirk rising on her lips. "Hope has told me all about you. Hasn't shut up about you, actually."

Red begins to make its way to her cheeks at the idea of Hope talking about her. 

"She's upstairs, I'll go get her." 

Before Josie can say otherwise, the bartender walks through the door behind the bar. 

She sits down nervously, glad that there were not any other people in the bar. She enjoyed this time better than others when there were dozens of people crowding around.

After a few minutes, Hope comes down along with Maya. There's a familiar smile that lights Hope's face upon seeing the brunette. 

"Jo! You're here." Hope comes over to her side of the bar and hugs Josie tight, the taller girl reveling in the arms around her.

"I said I would be, so here I am." She finally looks down at what Hope's wearing. She has a big white shirt with dried paint covering it, tucked in the front of her jean shorts. 

"You look really cute." 

She enjoys the blush that dusts across Hope's cheeks, it matches her hair. 

The short bartender clears her throat and tries to compose herself. "Do you want to go upstairs with me?" 

"Upstairs? What's upstairs?" Josie tilts her head in confusion. 

"I have an apartment above the bar, that's where I'm living. Let me show you something?" She stretches out her hand for the brunette to take. 

Before Josie can answer, they hear gagging sounds coming from behind the bar. Both girls look over at the same time to see Maya pretending to gag at the sight of them.

"You guys are too cute and need to get a room before I'm sick. All this fluff is going to give me cavities." 

Hope begins to glare, before her face shifts to a mischievous smirk. "Maya, do I need to tell Ethan about the 'probably in a gang' girl that you've been seeing?" 

Both friends stare at each other with deep intensity, neither backing down to the other. Maya's stare matches Hope's Mischief. 

"Hopey, have you told Josie that you were in a gang." 

Josie, who had been watching the interaction with poorly hidden amusement, begins to panic at the statement slightly. 

Hope does as well apparently as she levels a harder glare at Maya as the girl cackles at her victory. 

"I'm going to fire you." 

That apparently makes Maya laugh even harder. Hope takes Josie's hand and quickly drags her behind the bar, trying to get away from her friend as soon as possible.

A slight blush adorned Hope, which was perfect. Josie enjoyed it, Hope was usually so confident, it was nice to see her like this. 

They are walking up a set of stairs before Hope begins to speak again. 

"I'm sorry about her." She looks sheepishly at Josie. She tries to give a reassuring smile and a squeeze of their intertwined hands. "It's okay, I have my fair share of friends and a sister who will do nothing but try and embarrass me as well." 

Hope smiles in thanks as they arrive at a door, which presumably leads to Hope's apartment. "I didn't know you had an apartment above the bar," Josie says. 

They stop walking for a second right before they get inside. "I own the bar. It came with the apartment when I bought it." Hope says this as if it's no big deal. She's turning the door about to step inside before Josie stops her. 

"Wait, you own the bar?" Hope gives her a quick wink, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Saltzman."

She doesn't give Josie a chance to answer before stepping into the apartment.

Josie is hit with the smell of paint with a mix of something that is purely Hope.

Walking through the door, Josie sees that the apartment is medium-sized. There's a kitchen to the left when you first walk in. 

Josie only gets a short look at the apartment before she's being taken upstairs. Hope still has her hand and is leading. 

When they get to the top of the stairs, Hope with her free hand opens the door. 

Josie first sees the canvas that has an unfinished painting resting on it. When she looks around the room, there are paintings everywhere, canvases line the floor unceremoniously. 

It's a bit of a mess but captures Hope perfectly. Josie had known Hope enjoyed painting, but she didn't know she had her own studio in her apartment. There's no bed in here, making Josie wonder where Hope slept if this wasn't her room. 

Josie takes everything in, the paintings she can see are absolutely beautiful. Hope is beyond talented. 

She watches Josie nervously as the brunette walks around the room, surveying her work.

"What do you think?" 

Josie looks back to Hope at her question and smiles. "These are so amazing, Hope, the way you see things and paint them is incredible." She turns her attention to the painting currently on the canvas. 

It's a view of the city from a rooftop. The shading makes the work look realistic, and the colors blend well together. 

"Thank you." 

They stare at each other for a moment before a question comes to Josie's mind that she wants to ask but isn't sure about 

She clears her throat, hesitantly. "What did Maya mean earlier, were you in a gang?" The brunette tries to keep the nervousness and curiosity out of her voice but fails. Hope looks at her unquestioningly before her smirk is back in place. She takes a few steps closer to Josie.

"Maybe. The question is though, would that be a turn-off, or." She pauses and presses her body close to Josie. "A turn-on." She finishes her sentence by stepping back and watching the red glow through Josie's cheeks. 

She lets the taller girl sputter for a few moments as she tries to form a sentence but saves her from answering. 

"My dad used to run with a gang, a bad one. He was kind of their leader before he died, he made sure that I would be well taken care of and wouldn't have to live that life." 

Josie mutters something that specifically sounds like 'I really do have a type.' but Hope can't be sure. 

"Hope, what was your dad's full name?" 

She hesitates before answering. 

"Niklaus Mikaelson." 

Josie looks startled for a second before she starts to laugh. Slightly maniacal, and a little unhinged. It makes Hope start to chuckle nervously. Her brow furrows as she watches the other girl clutch her stomach. 

"Jo? You okay?" 

She calms down at the question and looks at Hope, some slight tears in her eyes. 

"I'm sorry for laughing, but my dad is the chief of police, our fathers are sworn, enemies." 

Realization spreads to Hope as her face goes white. "Alaric Saltzman, that's your father. That's why your name sounded so familiar." 

Josie bursts out laughing again, but Hope doesn't join her. 

"Jo, why are you laughing, this is bad, like really bad." 

Josie puts her hands on either side of Hope's shoulders, balancing herself. 

"Because we are not our fathers. I will not have my dad ruin another thing in my life, especially not with you. I don't care what your dad did Hope. I like you a lot and refuse to have that be jeopardized because our family has bad blood."

Hope smiles genuinely for the first time since their conversation started, she could feel her heart swell more for the girl standing in front of her. 

Hope says she's not a touchy person, but she craves the contact, so when Josie wraps her up in a long hug, she revels in touch, meeting beneath the other's arms.

She stays with Hope for the next few hours until it's late enough that Hope has to go down and help the other workers there tonight. 

She falls asleep that night thinking of Hope's arms around her, and unfinished paintings. 

"I'm sorry, you've had her number for weeks now, and you have done nothing? No progress whatsoever on the dating front?"

An indignant huff leaves Josie's lips at her sister's prodding. "There's been progress." 

Lizzie glares further, cornering Josie so she can't escape. It's times like these that Lizzie is the cat, and Josie is nothing but an injured bird. 

"What progress have you even made with carrot top?!" Josie grows quiet, and non-comprehensive mumbles leave her mouth. 

"What? I'm sorry, I can't hear you?" Lizzie, ever the dramatic puts her hand to her ear and gets closer to Josie. 

"No! I haven't made 'progress.' at least not by your standards."

Lizzie looks overly smug. "That's what I thought. Now, you will listen to all that I say and do so you can get your girl." 

"No! Lizzie, please. Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to get involved with my love life?" 

Scowling, Lizzie replies, "I hardly see how you gay panicking over a pretty girl is my fault. It's not my fault you're a bottom."

The scandalized pout the brunette wears makes Lizzie roll her eyes and interrupt before she can say anything. 

"Don't give me that look, you know I'm right. Now go get dressed into something hot. You are going to make your move tonight."

She can only sigh in defeat as she walks to her room, knowing she's not going to win this. Josie can only hope that she doesn't make a fool of herself and ruin all chances she might have with Hope. 

Soon after they get to the bar, Lizzie is off gallivanting on the dance floor after one shot. She's starting to suspect her dear sister's version of "helping her" was just a scheme to get Josie to get drunk. 

She really hates coming to the bar at this time of night. There's so many people there, and the music is loud. And more importantly, Hope has barely been able to say two words to her since she came in. 

The line doesn't end with more and more people crowding around trying to get drinks. She luckily is at the bar and is just waiting for Hope to come around and get her a drink. She really needs to drown her sorrows.

A person slips right beside her, bumping into her. Because she is definitely a people pleaser, she moves out of the way to allow some space. 

This, however, backfires. They keep getting closer to her, almost touching. She keeps moving out of the way, hoping that they'll get the hint—no such luck.

She glances over to see a tall man looking over her with what she is sure he thinks is a charming smile. 

"Hi, you're absolutely stunning. May I buy you a drink?"

She's never been good with confrontation, especially turning someone down. 

"That's really kind of you, but no thank you." he doesn't seem deterred by her blatant denial. 

"Come on, let me buy you a drink, it's just a drink." He gets closer to her, it feels suffocating. 

"No, thank you." Josie was looking around now, for an excuse to leave, wanting out of this "conversation" as soon as possible."

"I insist, It's just one drink. I don't see why you're being so difficult." 

"The lady said no. Now leave her alone." 

He scoffs and turns to who had spoken. Hope stands behind the bar with her fists clenched tightly. He seemed mad at first, but once seeing Hope, he looked her up and down, a smug smirk in place. 

"You don't have to feel left out, my bed has plenty of room for you too, gorgeous." The redhead doesn't bat an eye, her scowl furthers. "I have no interest in sleeping with your kind buddy. So how about you leave her and me alone; otherwise, I will kick you out." 

He apparently wasn't expecting that, his smug look turning into a frown. "You are going to kick me out? You're just the staff." Hope's look turns predatory as if she had him exactly where she wanted. 

Josie's mind fleetingly thinks about Hope directing that stare at her, under much different circumstances. 

Leaning forward, she rests her hand on top of the bar. "Just the staff? I own this bar. Which means I have a right to refuse service to anyone. Now get the hell out of my bar before I get someone over here, and have the escort you off my property." 

He definitely was not expecting that. His face shifts to anger, but he does back off, downing the last of his drink and walks out the door. Josie had watched the entire scene wide-eyed and slightly turned on at how powerful Hope was. 

The redhead turns her attention to Josie, her gaze softened. "You okay?" Josie nods and hums, struggling to find words. Hope leans closer and puts her hand on top of Josie's. "You sure? You don't seem okay." 

Clearing her throat, she does speak finally but regrets it the second she opens her mouth. 

"I'm good, that was just really hot." 

She should not have said that. Her mouth clearly was trying to sabotage her. Hope's smile grew to a smirk, one that had Josie's heart racing. 

"Oh? First, you think I'm pretty, now you think I'm hot, huh?" Cheeks burning, she tries to cool the fire by taking a deep breath. It doesn't work. Hope thankfully does back off slightly, allowing Josie to not feel the flame of her stare. 

"Thank you, I was not enjoying his presence at all." she leans forward and puts her hand on Hope's outstretched arm. 

"Not a problem. Anytime you need creeps to back off, just send them my way." she winks as she says this, moving back so she could leave to get drink orders. Josie's eyes follow her as she goes, watching intently with slight yearning. 

Maybe Lizzie is right, she does need some help.


	4. Chapter 4

The banquet is going off without a hitch. Thank god, Josie doesn't think she could handle it if something did happen. 

She's got her eye on a piece of cake that looks delicious. She's honestly earned it with how much work she had put into this event. After socializing for a few hours, she was ready to get out of these heels and go home. Sleep would be amazing. 

Her thoughts drift to Hope as they've often done the past few weeks. She hadn't seen the other girl since she stayed at her apartment for a few hours less than a week ago. With the event and other responsibilities, she couldn't find time to go to the bar. They had continued to text, but she wished to see the bartender.

Her cheeks flushed when she told Hope that and the redhead had sent her back a selfie of herself in pajamas.

Really short and see-through pajamas.

Josie didn't sleep much that night. 

She finally decides to waltz over to the desert and food tables to snatch the chocolate cake. It was mouth-watering. She could just imagine biting into it. 

One of the waitresses passes by her and asks if she would like a glass of champagne. She accepts and grabs her surprisingly first drink of the night. Probably her last if she's being honest. 

Being friends with a bartender made her alcohol consumption increase considerably. Her body regretted the unwelcome flavor, so she's keeping off most alcoholic things, saving them for special occasions.

She's just taking a drink from her glass when someone approaches her and begins to speak.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm going to need some form of identification because you look too young to be having alcohol." 

She almost panics, remembering when she and Lizzie had been stopped by an officer when they were in high school. Flashback from the first time she and Lizzie had gone to a party with some older students and gotten considerably drunk. 

She recognizes the voice and sees Hope standing next to her. Her entire body deflates with relief. Seeing that she's not in any trouble, her eyes trail down to the suit that Hope is wearing. 

She looks absolutely amazing. It's different from the jeans and leather jacket combo Hope usually where. 

She almost prefers the suit with how hot the redhead is, but then remembers how Hope looks in a leather jacket. She's honestly glad that her eyes were graced with the view of Hope like this.

The bartender also wears a smirk and is looking very smug at the moment. Josie stops her ogling and whips her head up to Hope's eyes. Her face begins to burn when she realizes that she hasn't even said a word to Hope yet. She had been staring and looking her up and down. 

The redhead doesn't seem to mind; in fact, she's thriving off the attention Josie is giving her. 

"What are you doing here?" Is all Josie can get out with her rapidly glowing face. It's more of a squeak. "Not that I don't want you here. You look amazing, by the way. And hey! I do not look that young." Words tumbling out faster.

The bartender's smile only grows. "I don't know, you do have a babyface." She stops her teasing when Josie pouts. Early on, she had realized the power she had over Hope with her pout and a bit of puppy eyes. She could get her to do anything if she really wanted.

"To answer your first question, my aunt works for Tribrid, she wanted some of our family here for support." She smiles when she mentions her aunt and family. 

"That's great. Hope, I'm glad you're here, who's your aunt? Maybe I know her."

Tribrid was a big company, but Josie prided herself in being welcoming. She had memorized almost all the names on her staff and floor, even the interns.

Hope gets pretty quiet for a second, biting her lip. "Freya." She says simply, specifically leaving off the last name.

Josie catches it still as her eyes widen. "Oh my gosh! I'm such an idiot!" 

Hope scowls at that, not liking the brunette saying that about herself. Josie continues, though, before she can say anything.

"I don't know how I didn't realize Freya Mikaelson was related to you. In my head, you are this fantasy person who I can't really believe crosses over into real life. Your aunt is the CEO of Tribrid." 

The redhead's smirk is back in full force as she takes a step closer to Josie, laying a hand on her hip. 

"A fantasy you say, does that mean you think of me often?"

Blush spreading across her cheeks, she tries to look away, avoiding Hope's stare as she scoffs. "No, I don't know what you're talking about."

Hope only hums, stepping closer. "What am I doing in these fantasies of yours." 

'I'm too gay for this' is all Josie can think. Her heart rate is accelerating at all-time speed, and she can feel her breathing pick up. It's not fair how insanely attractive Hope is and the effect she has on Josie.

Especially while she's wearing that damned suit.

She takes a shaky breath and steps back so she can down her drink, trying to quell the fire burning inside of her. Unfortunately, the drink is nothing but gasoline to the flames as her eyes make their way to stare at Hope's lips.

Hope backs thankfully away enough for Josie's heart to stop accelerating. She truly believes she's going to die young if her body keeps reacting like that every time Hope so much as stares at her a certain way.

"How're you enjoying the banquet so far." Her blush still hadn't died down nearly at all. Hope's self-satisfied look makes Josie all too aware that Hope knows exactly how she affects Josie. She needs to change the subject and is desperate to do so.

"It's been great. Not usually my type of scene, but I do rock a suit." She says it with a wink, and Josie can't stop the "yes you do." That leaves her mouth.

Hope not having expected that starts to blush ever so slightly. She's beyond thrilled at this response.

They're in their own little world for a while longer, before both have to continue socializing. Hope left not long after, having talked to her family and staying most of the night.

Josie had to stay later and finish talking with investors and other people that were present. At this point, what even is her job description? 

She was so distracted by Hope that she doesn't realize until much later that she never did get to eat the cake. 

"No, Lizzie! I will not show up at the bar with lingerie and a trench coat over it and ask to go to her room." The brunette Saltzman exclaims, trying to talk Lizzie out of her ideas of how to get Hope to date Josie. 

"I'm aware it would probably work in getting her to have sex with me, but I'm not looking for sex." There's more sound on Lizzie's side. 

"Okay, I am, but I'm not looking only for sex. I want to know more about her, and go on dates with her, spending time together." 

There's more sound that sounds like 'useless pansexual' before Lizzie hangs up, but Josie can't be sure.

Lizzie was on a week-long business partnership and called her as she had gotten to her hotel. She'd have a busy week and probably wouldn't be free to talk to Josie much until she got back from the trip.

There's another call a few seconds after her sister hung up, assuming it was Lizzie calling back, she doesn't bother looking at the caller ID. 

"Lizzie! I am not going to wear lingerie for her! No matter how hot I'll look."

Her blood runs to ice at the voice that comes through the other side.

"Hey, Jojo. Not Lizzie, but what's this about lingerie?" 

She hates how her lip trembles. "P-Penelope?" 

It's as if everything comes crashing back. The breakup, the feelings, everything. 

"Ya, Jojo, it's me."

She's too overwhelmed. Her mind is crashing right now, and she can't stop it. She hates this power that the evil one has over her. Hates that with barely ten words, the black-haired girl reduced her to nothing but makes her feel everything.

"Why are you calling?" 

It's honestly a good question. Why was she calling after almost four months of them being broken up. After four months of not saying a word to each other. Why now? 

"I miss you."

Hot tears burn at her eyes. She can feel the overwhelming thoughts she had right after the break up come back full force. She had been afraid that she would never truly be over Penelope. That fear creeps it's way back into her mind.

The tears fall hot and heavy down her cheeks as she finally answers.

"No, you don't get to do this."

She doesn't know if Penelope can hear the edge in her voice, but Josie knows she can feel it deep in her throat. The feeling of wanting to scream and cry and have someone hold her. 

Lizzie had done that for weeks after they first broke up because Penelope had left her broken and hurt.

"Josie, please. I miss you." There's no small amount of pleading in her voice.

She hesitates slightly. If Penelope had called about less than two months ago, Josie might have caved and said yes to talking.

For the first time since their conversation started, Josie's mind flutters to Hope, her smile, leather jacket, and everything that makes the other girl who she is. 

She feels adoration flood through her and wishes to be held by her now. She knows what her answer is before she opens her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Penelope. You broke up with me, and I've moved on. So should you." 

She ends the call feeling happy for about half a second before the tears come back with reinforcements.

She curls up on the couch, even more, blanket tightly clutched in her hands.

She wanted to stay in for the night and maybe take a hot bath. Right now, she wanted nothing but to forget.

She's grabbing her keys and phone before she even has a chance to think about how much of a bad idea this is. 

She gets to the bar quickly, and if there's one thing that Josie has picked up on after coming to the bar so many times, Hope does not work every day. 

She found out the hard way with Maya telling her that Hope wasn't working and wouldn't be that night. Josie left soon after, not seeing much reason to stay if she couldn't get her Hope fix. 

She started to memorize Hope's schedule, and the other girl mentioned the times she worked after Josie told her about the incident. 

She didn't think there would be a time when she would willingly go to the bar without Hope. This was one of those anomalies. 

Her first thought was to call Lizzie and talk to her, but since she had just talked to her, knowing how late it was where she was at, she didn't want to bother her. 

Her next thought was Hope, but she also didn't want to bother her with the messed up relationship drama she had going on, talk about a turn-off. 

Hope had already gotten mixed in with her ex drama too much that first night they met. She didn't want a repeat of that. So here she was at the bar Hope owned, trying desperately to forget everything with no Hope in sight. Pun intended.

When she first came into the bar, none of the bartenders working knew who she was, so it was easy to have them keep pouring the drinks without question. 

Maya was surprised to see her when she had come in for her shift, telling her that Hope wasn't In tonight. Her eyes went wide when Josie only nodded and said she knew, ordering another drink. 

She had way too much, but honestly couldn't bother to care. Many people had sent drinks her way throughout the night, along with all the ones she ordered. 

Her drunk self thought dancing would be a great idea. So on the dance floor, she was grinding against a random guy. 

He had red hair that was similar to Hope's. 

When she went back to the bar for some more drinks. Maya stopped her, walking over from the bar, and talking to her. "Hey, Josie, how many drinks have you had tonight?" 

Drunk Josie only laughs at the question loudly. "Not enough! Another, please!" It's loud in the bar, so she's yelling as if Maya won't hear her if she doesn't. The black-haired girl winces at the volume. 

"Okay, I think you have had enough." The pout Josie gives her is like kicking a puppy, it almost makes her reconsider her decision. 

"Maybe you should go home, Josie? Why don't you give me your phone and I can call someone to come get you, your sister maybe?"

She shakes her head, the pout still in place. "Nope. Lizzie's gone." Maya sighs at how unbelievable Josie is being. 

She's swaying back and forth as if she's about to fall. The guy she was grinding against earlier came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Hey baby, how about I buy you another drink, then maybe we can take this back to my apartment." 

Josie's eyes light up at the mention of another drink. "Maya! I want another drink!" She's like an over-excited puppy, no longer sad and pouting. 

He looks over to Maya, "You heard her, another drink." She wants to punch the look off his face. 

"Sorry, she's cut off, and staying right here." He looks angry at being told 'no.' He leans forward in what is supposed to be a threatening manner. "She's a consenting adult. And she wants to come with me." 

He tightens his hold on Josie as her drunk self starts to understand Maya and the guy's tension. 

"She's also a friend who's hurting. So excuse me if I'm not going to let a stranger take her home after being drunk. Now you're going to let her go unless you want me to get Security to escort you off the premises." 

She gives a hardened glare that shows she isn't backing down. He relents with a glare of his own and takes his hand away from Josie, not without calling Maya a few choice words and going back to the dance floor. 

"What are we going to do with you?" Josie, who had watched the interaction with glazed over eyes, was feeling sleepy. 

"I'm gonna go home." She says, taking a step back from the bar and stumbling slightly. Maya only sighs and steps around and puts her arm around the dizzy girl's waist, taking her to the breakroom. 

"Hope owes me. She better get her ass here soon." Josie's entire face lights up at the mention of the redhead, "Hopey! Is she coming? She's so pretty." Her eyes stare off with a smile on her face. 

Maya only smiles at that, setting Josie down on a couch in the break room. The sleepy drunk girl curls up on her side and feels her eyes start to shut. 

After seeing Josie drink so much, Maya had called Hope, knowing something was wrong.

Hope was heading here as fast as she could and swept through the door. She did a quick survey to see if she could find Maya or Josie, not seeing either, she grew more worried.

She asks the other bartender's where Maya was, they quickly pointed her to the back.

She sighs in relief and makes her way back towards both, her relief grows when she sees Josie curled up on the couch. 

She greets Maya with a hug, “Thank you for calling me, did she say what happened?”

The Latina shakes her head. “She said her sister was gone so she couldn't come get her, but didn't say why she wanted to get black out drunk.”

Hope only sighs as she scoops the sleeping Josie in her arms, a bridal carry. Hope works out a lot, so she’s strong enough to carry Josie, However she does struggle slightly considering how long Josie's legs are. 

She says goodbye to Maya and makes her way to her apartment. The stairs are narrowed making the walk a little bumpy, as is getting the door open, but eventually they make it unscathed. 

She gets to her room and opens the door. She sets Josie down on her bed, and the drunk girl begins to wake up. 

Big brown eyes fluttered open and watched her with awe. They don’t say anything asHope walks around the room, trying to get some pajamas for Josie. The dress she wore did not look comfortable to sleep in.

“Hope? Is that really you?” Josie whisper-yells it, making Hope jump slightly. “Yes, love, It’s me.”

She turns around after pulling out one of her nightshirts she uses sometimes. It's long on her but will probably fit Josie just right. 

“I missed you.” 

She says it like a confession, a bit of worry filling her voice. She doesn't stop, her words tumble out and slurring from the alcohol. 

“I really missed you. I wanted to see you but I didn’t want to bother you.”

Hope sits next to Josie and takes her hands. "You don't ever have to worry about bothering me Josie, I will always come when you call." She kisses the tops of the knuckles. The gesture is apparently the funniest thing to Josie as she begins to giggle. Hope continues her administrations up Josie’s arms,making the drunk girl laugh even more. 

She lays small kisses on both arms, slowing down as she finishes. She smiles at Josie and brushes a stray piece of hair out of her face.

“You didn’t get everywhere!” she’s still giggling as she says it and doesn't give Hope a chance to respond. “I really want you to kiss me everywhere.”

This girl was going to kill her. It was said so innocently though the words were not. She can feel herself flushing at the idea. But Josie was drunk, her words didn’t mean anything Hope rationalized. 

She does lean forward and kisses Josie’s forehead. “There, all better?” Hope asks after the kiss. Josie pouts once again and shakes her head. She brings Hope’s hand to her mouth, and touches the fingertips to her mouth. 

“You missed right here.” 

She tilts her head after releasing Hope’s hand and waits expectantly. Clearing her throat, she tries to gain control of her emotions. “That’s going to have to be something you ask me to do while you’re sober, love.”

The pout doesn’t go away but Hope continues what she was doing. That pout should be classified as a weapon, it's not fair how persuasive and cute the brunette is. She grabbed a pair of sleeping shorts she usually uses and handed them to Josie. “Do you think you can get changed by yourself?” 

Josie grabs the clothes from Hope’s hand and mumbles that she can do it herself. Hope leaves the room and gets a glass of water ready before making her way back to the drunk girl. 

“Hey, Jo, you dressed?” she knocks before entering the room, waiting for a reply. When Hope doesn’t get one she steps further in and sees Josie with her dress off and laying in the middle of the bed.

“The room is spinning.” Is all Josie says. Hope chuckles but tries to avert her eyes at seeing Josie in only a bra and underwear. 

She grabs the dress and folds it onto a chair. Helping Josie sit up, praying she doesn't throw up, and helps her get dressed in the pajamas. She hands Josie the water and has the girl drink all of it.

Drunk Josie looks sleepy and begins to close her eyes, Hope helps her to the bathroom before she can fall asleep and gives her a spare toothbrush to brush her teeth. "You'll thank me in the morning." 

Hope guides the girl back to her bed and lays her down under the covers. She had already resigned herself to sleeping on the couch, so she's surprised when Josie's hand comes out and grabs her arm, stopping her from leaving. 

"Stay?" The taller girl has such a hopeful look that Hope would be a monster if she denied her request. 

"Of course, love. Let me get ready for bed too." She gets dressed as well and brushes her teeth before she's back at the bedside. 

After she plugs her phone in, she grabs Josie's to see if she has an extra charger. She does and plugs it into the wall as well, not wanting Josie's phone to be dead when she woke up tomorrow.

The girl was already a lightweight, if Maya was anywhere near correct with how much Josie had, the girl was going to feel a massive hangover tomorrow.

She tucks Josie in, and then slips into the bed as well. She had assumed Josie had been asleep with how quiet she'd been the last few minutes. 

Her eyes were wide awake, watching Hope. The drunk girl shifts to her side and scoots closer to Hope, wrapping her arms around the redhead. 

"I like you a lot." 

She says it with a small giggle as if she was telling a secret. Leaning forward, drunk Josie leans her head into Hope's shoulder. 

After a few minutes, Josie seems to calm down, her breaths evening out as sleep takes hold of her. 

Hope waits before saying anything but she leans over and whispers into Josie's ear. 

"I like you a lot too."


	5. Chapter 5

When Hope wakes up that morning, there's a warm weight pressed against her back, and an arm around her waist.

For about two seconds, she panics before remembering the events of last night: Maya calling, frantically going to the bar, drunk Josie.

The brunette was going to have such a hangover this morning. 

Hope didn't want to get up. She was warm and felt safe wrapped in Josie's arms, the type of safe she hasn't felt since her last boyfriend. 

The thought should scare her, it did to some extent, but not as much as it should. She barely knew Josie and was already all too aware of how much being in her arms felt like home.

If only she could fall back asleep in the warm embrace, but her body had a bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night and refusing to sleep. Curse her family for being early risers.

She allowed herself to stay in the sleeping girl's arms for a few more minutes before finally shifting. She moves as slowly as possible, hoping not to wake the girl behind her. 

Sleepy Josie does not like to release whoever is in her grasp, because she wraps her arms tighter before Hope can get out. It's not much of a surprise that Josie likes to cuddle.

Hope remembered Josie saying touch was her love language. She makes a mental note to hug and touch Josie as much as the girl will let her in the future.

She can only smile at the slow fight of getting out of the girls hold. She reminded her of a sloth, clinging to her body and refusing to let go. Maybe an octopus. 

Finally, after a few minutes of cautious struggle, she was able to get out of the hold. She replaces her body with a pillow as the girl rolls over and clings to it tightly.

She watches Josie for another minute, allowing herself to take in the beauty without fear of rejection or insecurity plaguing her mind. 

Hope's hands itch to grab her paints and a canvas and paint the girl. She wonders how much convincing it would take for Josie to let her paint her. Or draw her. Honestly, it didn't matter, as long as Hope could try to capture the beautiful goddess in front of her. 

She leaves her room and starts to make some coffee. While she might not be able to paint Josie just yet, her hands still have the itch to do something, a need that must be quenched. It was enough to drive her mad. 

With the coffee brewing, she got a glass of water and some drugs for Josie to take to help her headache when she woke up.

Walking back into the room quietly, she sets them down next to the bed, where Josie will be able to see them when she wakes up. Along with a little note.

Once done, she goes back to her coffee and makes it how she likes it. She runs up to her studio and brings down some paints and a fresh canvas. While Hope preferred to use her studio to paint and work, she was half afraid Josie would wake up and leave, not knowing Hope was there.

When her brush touches the canvas, her world centers on her thoughts and the paint. Nothing else matters in those moments.

Josie was almost always on her mind, especially in the past few weeks. Hope desperately wanted to know what had happened for the brunette to make her drink so much. She had been trying to forget something. Or someone. Hope knew the feeling all too well. 

After an hour of painting, she has a good placement where she wants things and an idea of where to go from here. 

She continues to work until her stomach grumbles in irritation at her for only feeding it coffee. It's still early, but she could make food, hoping Josie would wake up soonish.

Hope begins to set the supplies she'll need for breakfast out. She sets up some soft jazz to play quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping girl in her room.

Josie wakes up with a headache and being blinded by the sunlight that comes in from the window. 

Squeezing her eyes tighter, willing the light to go away, she finally opens them, squinting. 

Once her eyes adjust to the light, she sits up, gasping at the unfamiliar room where she finds herself. If her head wasn't pounding before, it was now with sitting up too quickly.

'how much did I drink last night?' The mere question brings unwanted thoughts and a continuous pounding that won't go away anytime soon.

She glances down and sees herself wearing an unfamiliar shirt and shorts, while also being in a different room. 

Trying to stop herself from spiraling out of control, she breathes deeply to calm herself in a way she's helped Lizzie do for years. When she opens them again, her head is more cleared. She has almost no memory of what happened the night before and isn't sure whether to be thankful or fearful. 

She doesn't think she had hooked up with someone, but who's bed was she in if she hadn't? 

A glance around the bed shows a cup filled with water, a note, and some ibuprofen. 'Hope you slept well- H' who the hell was H? A gasp leaves her throat as her memory begins to come back ever so slightly. 'No, no, no. This can't be happening.' 

Her hands go to her head. A scatter of memories fly back to her brain at too fast of a pace. 

With a sigh, she does grab the water and drugs downing both, hoping they quick in soon. The water feels good on her throat, but she desperately needs to brush her teeth. 

She gets off the bed slowly, eyes squinting from the light in the room. Her head kept pounding on and on. 

She usually never drank, hated getting drunk to the point where her memories were splotchy at best. 

After she brushed her teeth, she made her way to the living room, wondering if Hope was still in the apartment. She needed to thank her for last night, especially for taking care of her.

Her cheeks redden slightly at how tender the other girl was to her drunk self. When she gets out of the bedroom, she sees Hope dancing in the kitchen with her back turned towards Josie. There's some music playing that she can barely hear where she's at. Hope seems to be having a great time while making food and dancing to a rhythm, humming along. 

Adorable is truly the only word that can accurately describe what Josie was seeing. She stays quiet for a moment, content in watching the slight sway of Hope's hips as she slides around the kitchen. 

Hope turns around after a minute and abruptly stops her dancing, she smiles wide even with the blush that dusts across her cheeks. 

"Hey Jo, how long have you been standing there?" 

Feeling a little confident seeing the blush, Josie decides to tease "long enough to know you look adorable when you dance." 

Red deepens, and Josie would laugh if her head didn't hurt so much. 

Hope walks over to where Josie is setting her hand on her cheek. "How are you feeling?" It's quiet when she says it, enough to fill the space between them. Her fingers brush across Josie's cheek as she leans further into the touch. 

The brunette has always been a touchy person, never turning down touch that's freely given. She can feel her entire body revel in the small graceful tips of Hope's fingers. She brings her hand up and pushes it onto Hope's, keeping her hand in place.

"Better than I would have felt without you. But also like I've been hit by a bus. Thank you for everything, you didn't have to take care of me." 

Hope only gets closer to her, her thumb brushed over her cheek back and forth in a steady motion. 

"I'm glad I was able to care for you, you deserve to be taken care of." 

Her breath gets caught in her throat at the intensity of Hope's words, she says them with adoration and love that Josie isn't sure she's ever truly felt before. 

With Hope everything feels different than it did before, it felt more real.

Before responding, Josie moves the redhead's hand from her cheek and kisses the knuckles, once then twice. 

"Thank you." 

Both girls are looking at each other with an intensity too strong—an astronomical pull.

Josie's not sure if she's imagining it when Hope leans forward. The moment is disrupted by a crash in the kitchen.

Hope pulls away, and she can feel herself yearning for the touch. The bartender rushes over to where the stove was left on. "Bloody hell." She moves around the kitchen, trying to fix whatever had happened while she was distracted.

Josie loses focus for a few seconds at hearing Hope's accent. That was super attractive. Her weak mind was already fried with everything going on, she didn't need the redhead to give her more reasons to be distracted. The accent happened off and on, Josie dying inside whenever Hope called her 'love.'

Shaking her head, she moves towards the kitchen, stomach grumbling at the smell of food. 

Hope continues to move across the kitchen, taking stuff off the stove and getting plates out. 

"You hungry? I know whenever I have a hangover, the first thing that helps is food."

Josie doesn't answer with words but comes up behind Hope and wraps her arms around the redhead's waist, squeezing her tightly. "Thank you." She says again, whispering it into Hope's ear.

After a few seconds, the brunette pulls away, enjoying seeing the blush that is slowly rising on the redhead. 

Both girls begin to dish up their food and start to eat, sitting at the table in the kitchen. "Do you remember anything from last night?" 

Josie's head still hurts, but the throbbing has died thanks to Hope's drugs and the food they're eating. "Honestly, not a lot. I remember what happened before drinking, but after I came to the bar, the rest is mostly a blur. I remember you carrying me up the stairs." 

Hope practically inhales her food, finishing before Josie does but stays seated while she waits for Josie. After they both finished, she grabs their plates and sets them in the sink. 

Josie puts her head down, the table cool to the touch. "Did I do anything embarrassing?" 

Hope can barely hear her, the question muffled. 

'I want you to kiss me everywhere.' 

She can feel flush at the memory, but a mischievous glint reaches her eye. 

"Oh, nothing too bad, you did mention that you wanted me to kiss you everywhere." Josie's head swings up, and her expression goes from embarrassment to horrified in a manner of seconds.

She puts her head back on the table, her arms crossed so she can hide from Hope's teasing stare.

Josie doesn't lift her head, refusing to look up. She'd rather stay hidden where she doesn't have to pay for the crimes of her drunk self. 

The bartender was having none of that. She hears a chair scraping against the floor and can feel Hope lean down right next to her.

"Jo? It wasn't that bad, we can't exactly control what we say when we're drunk." Her tone is teasing but gentle as if coaxing a kitten out from a hiding place. "But I mean, I kinda get it, I'm a bit irresistible, right?" Josie blindly flings an arm out, smacking Hope's stomach before retreating back to her original position. 

She refuses to look up, making it a point to burrow further in her arms. Hope lays a hand on her side, making her jump. She freezes her entire body, Hope makes the same motion again across her side. Josie is incredibly ticklish and can just barely stop the noise that leaves her throat. She isn't, however, able to stop her body from pushing itself away from the redhead. 

There's silence for a moment before Hope's hands are back on her unrelenting along her sides. She jerks backward, throwing her hands up to stop the tickling, but the girl isn't deterred. 

"Hope, stop! Please!" She still has her eyes squeezed closed and hasn't opened them yet. Hope does stop, but she can feel the warm breath right next to her face. 

"Open your eyes, Jo." It's not a command, but Josie does as asked, and her eyes flutter open, deep brown staring into overwhelming blue.

"There's those pretty eyes that I love seeing." 

They're so close that Josie can see specks of color and emotion swarming in Hope's eyes. 

Both are breathing heavily, Josie from the onslaught of tickles sent her way, and Hope from being near the intoxicating brunette.

"Do you still---" 

Hope's interrupted by her question by a pounding on the door. She scowls but gets up, sending an apologetic look to Josie before getting up and opening the door.

She barely has the door open when Maya barges through. "Took you long enough, Mikaelson. Now spill the tea." She stops dead in her tracks, seeing Josie at Hope's table. 

Her surprise turns to a smirk; she looks the brunette up and down, noticing the clothes she's wearing are not her own. There's a devilish glint that stays on her eyes. 

"Hey Josie, I didn't think you'd still be here. Did you notice how pretty Hopey is today?" 

The taller girl sits there mouth agape before putting her hands on her head, a memory flying to the front of her mind unwillingly. She groans more as she remembers telling Maya how pretty Hope was last night because her drunk self had no filter.

"No more teasing. I don't think I can handle it." She slumps over with her forehead touching the cool table. 

She can hear Hope chuckle as a reply. "Wow Saltzman, you called me hot once and pretty twice, along with wanting me to kiss you everywhere. If I didn't know better, I'd say you've got a crush on little old me." 

She could feel her entire face redden and begin to glow, the cool table doing nothing to calm down the heat. 

"Hope," Is all she can whine pathetically clenching her eyes shut. She was not feeling well enough to take the teasing of both girls. Josie shudders at the thought of if Lizzie was here and having to ward off all three of them. Luckily Lizzie probably won't ever interact with Hope and Maya, so Josie doesn't have to worry about that. 

Thankfully after their laugh, they do back off and stop teasing the hungover girl. 

Both sit down at the table, "Hey, I wanted to come by and ask Hope how you were doing, I didn't know you'd still be here. So how are you doing?" 

Josie swallows hard before answering, knowing Maya wasn't talking about the hangover necessarily. "Better than I was last night, Hope took care of me." She smiles as she said this and looks over to Hope, her arm goes out automatically and squeezes Hope's arm. "and thank you for everything yesterday, I was a bit of a mess." 

Maya watches the interaction but doesn't comment on it. "You're welcome, I was glad to help."

"Do you want some food? I made extra." 

"Thanks for the offer Hope, but I have some things to do today. I wanted to make sure you both were okay." 

She stands to leave, squeezing Hope's shoulder as she heads out. "Take care of her, ya?" She directs at Josie. 

The brunette is nodding her head. "Of course." 

Maya says a last thing to Hope and the girls hug before she leaves for good this time and heads out the door. Hope closes it and walks back toward Josie and sits down.

Biting her lip, the brunette hesitates with what she's about to say, "thank you for everything, Hope. I truly appreciate it, you have no idea how much you mean to me." They stare at each other for a few seconds, eyes locked in a wave of emotions.

"Of course, Jo, I'm here for you always. I know we haven't known each other long, but I want to continue getting to know you." 

Reaching out to squeeze Josie's hand resting beside her, they continue to stare for just another second. Hope did not want Josie to leave, she was enjoying the time spent with the brunette and thought the other girl was enjoying herself as well.

"Would you like to watch a movie with me?" 

Josie seems startled at the question and bites her bottom lip. The redhead has to stop herself from staring at the action. "I don't want to be more of a burden to you then I've already been."

"Nonsense, you haven't been a burden at all, I told you, you deserve to be taken care of. If that means cuddles on the couch while watching a movie, I am all for that." 

The small smile Josie gives her is worth everything. 

Within a few minutes, both girls are getting their movies together on Hope's couch. Josie obviously wanted to watch Disney, and Hope is too whipped to say no.

As the first movie started, they were on separate sides of the couch, Josie looked at the distance between them and yearned to close it. She developed a plan that she would subtly move closer as the movie went on.

She's almost halfway to Hope, and she can do her 'subtle' finish of leaning next to her. Before she can go any further, the bartender looks over at her and chuckles, grabbing her and pulling her against her side. 

Josie let's out a small squeak at the unexpected movement but relaxes when Hope's arms go around her waist. "If you ever want something, all you have to do is ask." Hot breath on her ear, making her shudder. She freezes once again when she can feel Hope laughing silently, but doesn't say anything as they both settle into their new positions.

After the first movie, they begin to start a second, neither girl having anything to do today. Well, they did, but nothing that couldn't be pushed off till the week. 

About halfway through, they paused the movie for a bathroom break. Josie comes up next to Hope, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. 

The redhead moves, so she's turned around in Josie's arms before speaking. 

"Hey, I know we didn't talk about it exactly, but I want you to know I'm here for you if you ever want to talk. You don't ever have to pretend with me." 

Josie gets quiet and leans down, so her head is partially hidden in Hope's neck. "Thank you." Her lips brush against skin. 

The brunette pulls away but stays close. "The reason why I went to the bar last night is because my ex called me. She wanted to meet somewhere so we could talk."

Tears began to form at the remainder of what happened the night before. 

"And everything just came crashing back. I thought I was better and had moved on, but what if I never move on from her? What if she plagues my mind for years to come?" 

Hope makes shushing noises to calm Josie and guides her to the couch. The taller girl clings onto Hope and doesn't let go. Burrowing further into her embrace.

"I know you will get over her, Josie. It may be a hard and long process, but one day you will wake up, and realize that you are better off without them. You'll also find someone who looks at you like you hung the stars. You'll find someone who can give you everything that your ex never could." She emphasizes her words by kissing Josie's forehead. 

Both stay like they are for the next few minutes; silent tears fall down Josie's face, but after a little, they stop. 

"Thank you, Hope." A watery laugh leaves her throat, "I feel like that's all I've been saying to you today." She wipes the remaining tears out of her eyes. 

Hope brushes her hand up to wipe away a stray tear on Josie's cheek, and then guides both of them to the couch where their movie was forgotten. 

She scoops the taller girl to her chest and holds her tight. "Do you want to continue the movie? Or just cuddle."

The brunette statues herself more into Hope's arms and breathes in deeply. "Both." 

With that said, they continued with their day.

Josie and Hope stayed together until late at night when Hope drove Josie home. 

Standing out front of Josie's apartment door felt all too much like they had just finished their first date. She tries to shake that thought out of her head, but Josie keeps looking at her with soft eyes.

She's about to say something, but Josie leans forward and puts her lips to her cheek, effectively silencing her. 

"Goodnight Hope, text me when you get home?" 

She can only stare and nod dumbly, her brain short-circuiting and no longer working. Her cheek still tingling where Josie touched it. 

With that, both girls part ways.

Hope: Got home safe and sound. 

Josie: Good, I had a lot of fun today, maybe we could do it again? 

Hope: I'd love that :D 

Josie: Has anyone ever told you how much of a dork you actually are? 

Hope: A sexy dork though ;)

Read at 11:27

Hope: you didn't reply, do you think I'm sexy?

Read at 11:28

Hope: Jo? 

Read at 11:29

Hope: I know you're reading these! 

Josie: Goodnight Hope <3 you might be a little bit sexy 

Hope: :D :D :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I love reading your thoughts!


	6. Chapter 6

Josie sits at her desk, going through some files. She was supposed to have gone through them over the end of last week. Having been distracted by Hope for the entire weekend kept her from finishing them. 

Speaking of which, her phone buzzes once then twice, letting her know she's got a text. 

She's assuming it's from Hope and has to stop her body's first reaction of dropping her work to answer back. She sighs and continues her work while her mind travels to a bartender across town. 

When she looks up again, it's because of a shadow that's cast across her desk. Looking up, she's about to greet whoever is in front of her, but she stops mouth agape. "Mrs. Mikaelson." She's a bit too stunned to do anything else but stare before realizing she needs to act. 

"What can I help you with?" 

The woman stands tall and is honestly a little terrifying, but in a good way. She exudes power in such a way that makes her workers strive to do their work and please her. It's the same way she commands respect in the boardroom. 

She can't believe how she hadn't seen the similarities before with Hope and her aunt. Though she hasn't spent much time with the CEO, the similarities are definitely present. 

There's the same smile, and the shape of their eyes and how they hold themselves. They definitely are an attractive family.

Oh no, she can't find Hope's aunt attractive, that like goes against friend code, but how is her poor pansexual mind supposed to help this? Here's to never telling a soul. 

All of these thoughts rush through her head in a manner of seconds. Freya smiles at her as Josie tries to make sure she isn't the awkward person she usually is. "Please, come with me to my office, I believe there are some things we need to discuss." 

Josie can't stop the horror that crosses her face. 'Oh, no. I've done something, I'm getting fired, she's letting me go. What did I do?! Maybe it was something I didn't do?' 

Freya, sensing the panic, goes to calm Josie. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble." They don't speak again until they're situated in Freya's office. The door closes with a click, the CEO guides her to the chair in front of her desk. 

"Miss Saltzman, please calm down, you're not in trouble, I assure you." She finally takes a breath and tries to calm herself down. It works mostly; the anxiety still present but diminished. 

"You started as an intern here at Tribrid, correct?" Though it's posed as a question, it's said more as a statement, Josie answers anyway. "Yes, right after college, I've been here ever since." Freya regards her carefully. 

Josie can feel herself being observed and lets it happen without questions, and holds herself up higher under the scrutiny. 

"You have a focus and drive that I have not seen in many people, it's no wonder you are as successful as you are and will only grow even more from here. You have a kind heart and are hard-working." 

Josie feels stunned at the praise but smiles anyway, afraid that there's a 'but' coming soon. "Thank you, Mrs. Mikaelson." The woman regards her again. "What do you know of my niece?" 

She's once again shocked. "Hope?" A nod from the CEO, she continues. "I met her at her bar, we've become friends recently." She's being watched and analyzed, she's not sure what the woman is looking for, but she must find it as a small smile rests on her face after a moment. 

"Are you busy this Friday evening?" She doesn't know what she was expecting, but that wasn't it, not in the least. She doesn't really know how to reply, busy for what exactly? Technically Josie has no plans, Lizzie won't be getting in till Saturday night, her only plans recently have been work and going to the bar to see Hope. 

"Not that I'm aware of, Mrs. Mikaelson." 

The lady hums appreciatively before speaking. "Would you like to come to dinner with me and my wife Friday evening? Hope is coming over, and I'm sure she would love her 'friend' to be there as well." 

Her heartbeat picks up speed faster than it has any right to do, considering she's sitting down and not currently running or exercising in any way. 

The way Freya had said friend made it seem like there was something more to the word. "Oh, I don't want to impose on a family dinner." The Mikaelson woman holds the same smirk smile combo that she had seen on Hope so many times before. 

"Nonsense, any friend of Hope's, is family to us, I'll have Hope send you the details." Josie nods her head and takes that as it is. She leaves in a daze, a smile, and a wave as she moves to head back to her desk. She is so screwed. What the hell just happened?

When she gets back to her desk, she quickly checks her phone, having forgotten that Hope had texted. 

Hope: you coming by the bar later? =) 

Hope: I miss you =(

That does bring a smile to Josie's face. Even in her shock, she still finds Hope the most adorable thing. 

Josie: I don't think so, heading to the hospital

The brunette should have probably clarified what she meant, but before she could, there was a series of frantic texts from the other girl.

Hope: Are you okay?! 

Hope: do you need someone to take you?

Hope: Tell me where you're at, I'll come to get you

Hope: are you okay? 

She can feel her heart grow with warmth reading Hope's texts, showing how much the girl cared for her. She sends one back before Hope can worry anymore.

Josie: sorry, I'm fine, I should have clarified, I'm going to the children's hospital, I go there to read to the kids sometimes after work when I can.

Hope: I'm glad you're okay, sorry for freaking out a bit 

Josie: it's okay, I like that you care

She begins to finish up her work, putting her phone away, after a few minutes there's another buzz.

Hope: would you like some company while you go? I'm not very good with kids, but I'd love to see you, and maybe we could get dinner afterward?"

She can't help the small squeal that leaves her throat. She quiets down and looks around embarrassed and hoping no one else heard her. 

Josie: don't you have a business to run? 

Hope: perks of having employees who can run the bar while the owner is away ;) namely Maya. Is that a yes on me coming? 

Josie: maybe <3 I kinda miss seeing you too

Hope: Only kind of? I'll have to step up my wooing game then so you yearn to see me as I do you ;) 

Josie has to stop herself from flushing too much at Hope's Words. It wasn't fair how easily she could make her blush while not even in the same room as her. Hope had wooed her plenty, she could have Josie in any capacity she wanted, but Josie wasn't going to stop her from doing more.

Josie: Your wooing game might need to be stepped up, I was unaware you were trying to get my attention

Hope: Be careful what you wish miss Saltzman, don't think you can handle all that I can offer

Josie: only one way to find out, I can handle anything you throw at me, bring it on Mikaelson. 

She puts down her phone and finishes up her last few things she needed to do before she leaves for the day. The children's hospital she and Hope were going to was the same one that the donations from the fundraiser went too. They had exceeded their goal by a considerable amount. Josie had been the one to suggest the specific hospital that the banquet would be for. 

She had been going there every other week for a year to read to kids anytime she was able too. She loved the mere idea of Hope joining her. Most of her friends went at least once or twice with her. 

Once finished with her work and can leave, she heads back to her apartment, texting Hope details as she goes. 

Soon Hope is in front of her door with flowers in hand and a bright smile on her face. Josie takes them gracefully and puts them in a vase of water before they head out. 

Hope drives them to the hospital, and they both make small talk on their way, it's incredible how easy it is to fall into conversation with Hope. Josie enjoys learning about the redhead. 

Soon they arrive and park the car, walking into the hospital. After around a year of doing this, Josie knows the way by heart and wordlessly guides Hope and herself to where the children are. Before she can sign in, she hears a high pitched voice call out to her. 

"Miss Josie!!!" Before she can do anything, a small mass throws itself at her and wraps their arms around her waist. 

Before she knows it, more kids swarm around her and hug her tightly. All she can do is laugh in delight as she embraces the kids back. If she hadn't been preoccupied with the children, she would have seen Hope looking at her with the most loving eyes, admiration shining through. 

It doesn't take long before the swarm of kids notices Hope's presence and looks at her in question. 

"Who are you?"

"You're so pretty!" 

"Are you Miss Josie's new girlfriend!?" 

The kids erupted into chaos at that point, all trying to ask questions about them. Ranging from when they started dating to when they are getting engaged. Both girls try to stop the blush and calm the kids down. 

"This is Hope, she's a friend. We're not dating." 

The kids show major disappointment at Josie and Hope not dating, a collective groan across the group of seven kids crowding around. 

A kid with short hair comes up to Hope with a questioning gaze. "Why not? Do you know how amazing miss Josie is?" 

Hope can feel herself blush at the question, kids really didn't have any filters. A glance at the corner of her eye shows Josie wearing a blush as well. 

She leans down as if she's whispering a secret but says it aloud that everyone can hear. "Trust me, I know exactly how amazing she is. I'm in the process of wooing her." She sends a wink to Josie when she catches her eye. 

There's excitement through the kids once more at her words. Josie ushers them all to sit down at the center of the room. It looks like an entertainment area for the kids. Toys and books litter across the floor also look like places where family can come and visit. 

The kids come around, and all of them sit around a circle on the floor, Hope not leaving Josie's side. 

Josie introduces all the kids to her by name, she listens attentively at each introduction. After they have been there a few minutes and the introductions are done, the kids begin to all want to tell Josie whatever has been going on since she last visited. 

Hope can feel her heart swell at the sight. She looks around the room and sees a smaller redhead girl sitting away from the group but watching.

She makes the decision to get up quietly, Josie looking at her in question momentarily before going back to listening to one of the kid's stories. 

The kid looked at her in question as she came next to her. "Hey, what are you doing clear over here, you wanna get closer?" The girl shakes her head and clings to the wolf stuffed animal she's holding onto that Hope now notices.

"You mind if I sit here?" The kid shakes her head once again, showing she doesn't mind.

Hope is quiet for a few seconds before she's leaning down and whispering. "You know, wolves are my favorite animal." 

The little girl stares back at her, attention on Hope. She continues. "My dad used to tell me a story about how my family line is a long line of those descended of wolves." 

"Really?" 

She nods her head and launches into the story her father told her many years ago. 

By the time she was done with her story, the little girl was sitting in her lap, and she was braiding the long red hair. 

The girl just let out an adorable giggle, she could feel herself laughing, as her fingers brush through the hair. 

She feels eyes on her and looks up to see Josie watching her with a softness that Hope has learned to claim.

Their eyes meet, they hold the contact with each other before their attention is broken by the kids once more. They share a final smile before going back to their group. 

After another hour, they leave. Hope has earned a hug from all the kids, especially the little redhead girl named Lucy. 

Once they leave, Hope has this district feeling of happiness that she hasn't felt in a long time. She watches Josie, who seems lighter than when they first arrived, a weight off her shoulders that makes it look like she's floating instead of walking. 

They're both so close to each other that their hands bump together every other step. Josie, surprising both herself and the bartender, grabs hold and links their hands together.

They have to separate their linked hands to get into the car, but Josie soon links them back together again once Hope starts to drive. 

"I'm happy you came, the kids loved you." 

"I'm glad I came too, I enjoyed that a lot. You're really good with the kids."

She can feel eyes on her and a smile from the corner of her eye.

"Thank you, you're really good with kids too, Lucy doesn't open up easily, and you were able to get through to her quickly. Took me a month before she started to hug me." 

"She reminds me of me as a child, quiet and a bit of a loner, but desperately craving for another person to notice me." 

Josie looks and waits for her to continue, not sure if there's a story behind the words that Hope wants to share. 

With a deep breath, she does. "My father, as you know, wasn't the best man ever, being involved in so much bad blood with gangs and violence. It was no place to raise a kid. He was gone the majority of my life. Because of who my father was, I had to be careful of anyone I talked to that wasn't family."

"Sounds pretty lonely." 

"It was. I didn't have very many friends growing up. That's when I met Maya and Ethan. I was thirteen when I saw them playing soccer in a field near my house. They asked if I wanted to join them, I surprised myself when I said yes."

Josie listens intently and nods to let the redhead know she's listening.

"Were you any good? At soccer?" 

Hope's laugh fills the air, "no, I was absolutely terrible. I could barely kick. Both Ethan and Maya were so nice and patient with me. Maya didn't tell me till years later, but both she and Ethan had a small crush on me growing up."

She laughs again, and Josie chuckles as well but feels a bit of jealousy crawling up her throat. She pushes it down and doesn't dwell on it. She could definitely understand having a crush on Hope, who wouldn't? She wanted to see pictures of little Hope and made a mental note to ask Hope later if she had any photos. 

"I'm glad you had them growing up. I've always had Lizzie, my parents were pretty absent most of our childhood, but I always had Lizzie by my side." 

Hope glances over at her, "I just realized that I have never really met your sister, and you've never met Ethan either."

"I guess not, maybe we could have a dinner date with all of us together?" 

"I'd like that a lot." 

They pull into the parking lot of a small cafe that Hope had wanted to take her too, and they soon get out. 

Once they find a booth, they sit across from each other, looking over the menu. 

"Oh! Hope!" Josie says suddenly and places her hand over Hope's to get her attention. The redhead looks up, slightly surprised.

Once seeing she has Hope's attention, she continues. "Your aunt talked to me this morning at work. She wanted to know if I would come to dinner this Friday with you and her wife." She bites her lip as she finishes. Nerves flood through her, so she doesn't notice Hope's eyes staring intently at her lips.

"I wanted to know if that was okay with you? She kind of herded me into saying yes, but if you don't want me to disrupt your family time, I can still say no." 

Hope stops her leering after realizing what she's doing and looks back to the brunette's eyes.

"I would love for you to come for dinner. And you wouldn't be disturbing anything, friends are considered family." She can feel her heart speed up faster when Josie giggles.

"That's what your aunt said as well." 

Their waitress comes over and takes their order, and then it's back to just them. 

"I had a really fun time with the kids today, maybe the next time you go, I could come again?" There are definitely nerves present in her voice, unsure if Josie wants her there as well.

They're still holding hands across the booth, so Josie squeezes. "I would love that, I'm sure the kids would as well."

They both smile at each other once again and make some small talk before their food comes out. 

The dinner is a small place, and Josie begins to wonder how Hope knows about it, wanting to know everything about the girl in front of her.

When their food does come out, she's starving, not having eaten anything since lunch. They thank the waitress as she leaves, and then she takes a big bite of her food. The brunette can't stop the groan of pleasure that leaves her mouth at how delicious it tastes. 

Her eyes are closed as she savors the bite, humming in appreciation. She opens her eyes and sees Hope staring at her with dark eyes. 

"This is amazing, do you want to try a bite?" 

Hope doesn't seem able to respond for a second before she clears her throat. "No, thank you, maybe in a little." She takes a big drink of her milkshake. 

Josie has no idea what's going on in Hope's mind and continues to make little noises of appreciation throughout their meal. Every time she does, she doesn't notice Hope's eyes drawn to her and how the pupils almost cover the entirety of her eye. 

They talk while they eat their food and stay to finish their milkshakes after they're both finished. 

The waitress places the check in front of Josie, and the brunette smirks as she goes to pay, but is stopped by Hope speedily snatching it out of her hand and placing her card there before Josie was able too. 

"Sorry babe, I'm paying this time." 

She can feel the blush rise to her cheeks at the pet name. "I don't know, the waitress obviously thought I have the top energy, so maybe I should pay." 

The scoff Hope lets out is almost offending. "You have about as much top energy as a baby deer." 

The brunette gasps dramatically in outrage. "I'll have you know that I can, in fact, top." She says the last word almost in a whisper, which ultimately got rid of the point she was trying to prove.

Hope looks her up and down. "I don't doubt it, love." She sputters next, unable to form a sentence when Hope is looking at her like that with those dark eyes. That accent is going to kill her. 

They quickly lay and leave the dinner, Josie's brain is just recovering as they pull out of the dinner. 

It's dark out now, the sun below the horizon. "I had a lot of fun today, thank you for coming with me, and for dinner." 

"I'm glad I came, dinner was great, we should do it again." 

The drive is far too short in Josie's opinion, but Hope, ever the gentlewoman she is, walks her up to her apartment door.

"Will I see you before Friday?" The air between them feels intense, a shift ever since they were driving back from the dinner. 

"I'm not sure about work, but I'll try to come by the bar later this week." She bites her bottom lip and sees Hope's eyes zero in on the action. She does it again, enjoying how intently she's being watched. 

Is it just her, or is Hope leaving in?

They both begin to lean forward slowly, giving the other a chance to pull away. Their lips would have met too if Josie's phone hadn't gone off at full volume, making both girls jump back. 

Her heart is pumping fast now, because of the almost kiss, and the phone call.

She almost wants to curse her sister's name. Hope does lean forward and kiss her cheek, it's short but just a hair away from the corner of her lips. "I'll see you later, Jo, okay?" 

She can only nod in a daze and watch Hope walk away. She pushes open her apartment door and answers her phone on the sixth or seventh ring.

She takes a deep breath as her hand comes up to her cheek, where Hope's lips were just a minute ago. She smiles before realizing Lizzie is talking to her on the other line.


	7. Chapter 7

If there's one thing Freya knows about her niece, is that she is guarded with most people. 

She shuts down often when topics are brought up that she is not comfortable with. She saw it when Niklaus died and how Hope had shut everyone out for months. 

While Hope may be good at hiding what she's thinking or feeling most of the time, she knows all of Hope's tells. 

Especially when she has a crush.

As Freya watches Josie Saltzman walk out of her office, she knows she's made the right choice. 

Hope had come to the Mikaelson manor Sunday evening. Just yesterday.

Freya had been pouring coffee into her mug and attempting to make progress on the files scattered across the kitchen table. 

Her niece came in through the door with all the determination a Mikaelson can hold.

"Hey, aunt Freya."

"Hope! To what do I owe this pleasure?" 

She stands to hug her niece as she walks into the kitchen area where Freya was. Both embrace in a tight hug before letting go. 

"You're not busy, are you?" Hope seemed hesitant now, now wanting to get in the way of her aunt's work.

"For you? Never. Come sit down." Freya sits back where she was before, and Hope sits in the spot next to her.

"Where's Aunt Keelin and Nik?" Hope looks around the room, making sure they weren't hiding somewhere in plain sight.

"I got home late from work, some last-minute things I needed to pick up from the office. I think they went on a walk through the park, they should be back soon if you want to stay for dinner?" 

"Rain check on dinner, maybe I could come over this Friday night?" 

"Perfect. Now, what did you need?" 

Hope is silent, her face not giving away anything. Freya feared that Hope had gotten into trouble, she had seen this look on her brother too many times to know that it never meant anything good. 

She was already ready to get their lawyer or maybe someone to bail a friend out of jail.

"How did you know Keelin was the one?" 

'Hm, that wasn't what I was expecting.' 

"How do you mean? I didn't know you were dating anyone."

Hope bites her lip again and is looking at the floor. It's times like these that remind Freya how young Hope is. She had to grow up so fast that it made her seem so much older at such a young age. But she was still young, and life was cruel.

"I'm not dating anyone." She doesn't make eye contact with Freya but keeps her eyes trained to the ground. 

"But, there is someone, correct?" 

When Hope nods, Freya begins to answer the question. 

"When I met your aunt Keelin, I had been blinded by how beautiful she was. Granted, I had been heavily under anesthesia, and she was the first thing I saw after surgery."

Freya had been in an accident more than fifteen years prior. The official record had marked it as a hit and run, which is half true. 

Klaus was still alive and had gotten involved with people who wanted him and all his family dead. They decided to go after her first.

Hope probably wouldn't remember much of that specific day, but she remembered the fear and terror of not knowing if her aunt would make it. 

"After I left the hospital, I could have sworn that I would never see her again. Yet it was like fate kept pushing us together."

Hope listened intently and clung to every word. 

"After a while, she asked me to go to dinner with her. I had been hesitant, our family is not known to have luck in finding lasting relationships."

Freya pauses to make sure Hope is following along.

"With Keelin and I, it wasn't some big moment when I knew she was the one. I was never sure if something with your father or our family would happen that would pull us away. Love is always uncertain, but in the end, it is worth the risk."

Hope's brow furrows as she thinks over her aunt's words. Her eyes are trained to the ground.

"What are you worried about little one?" 

Finally, Hope looks back up at her aunt. "What if I mess up, or I'm not enough? I really like her aunt Freya, and what if she realizes I'm not who she wants anymore?"

She thinks carefully before answering. "Does this have something to do with Landon?" 

Hope's silence is more than enough to know the answer.

"Hope, I know how much you cared for him, but he does not determine your worth. If this girl is half as amazing as you believe she is, she will know that you are truly wonderful. Landon was a fool for not seeing it."

Hope finally smiles at that, looking up at her. "Thanks, aunt Freya." 

"Tell me about her." And Hope does. 

Hope, while guarded with others, was an entirely different person with her aunt. She felt more secure and safe and could actually say what was on her mind. That was something only those closest to her would experience.

Freya watched her niece light up in the excitement and pure elation as she talked about this new girl. The look was all too familiar; it was how she looked when talking about Keelin.

"And she's so kind and cares about others. She's not really close with her family, except her sister, she's a twin, they're really close." 

"What's her name? I don't believe you've told me that." 

Hope's smile falls just enough that Freya can tell something is off. Though Hope does try to regain control of her facial features, it's a slip up that Freya already had seen.

"Josie, her name is Josie." Hope has a faraway look and smile as she says it. 

"Josie. What's her last name?" 

Hope's hesitation is more apparent than ever now. She looks down and avoids her aunt's gaze. "Saltzman." 

Freya wishes she hadn't heard that name. Out of all the people in the city, her niece fell for the one person she shouldn't have. Typical of a Mikaelson, really. This shouldn't come as such a shock to her at this point.

She had remembered hiring the young Saltzman a few years back and had kept a close eye on her from afar.

Hope doesn't fully understand her background on her father's past, but her mother and father were rival gang members. It was supposed to be a one-time thing until Hayley found out she was pregnant with Hope. Then it became so much more.

Freya had a hand to her forehead and was rubbing the area, trying to smooth the tension. 

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do."

Josie replays the last few minutes of Hope being next to her. Did she imagine the leaning in? 

If Lizzie hadn't called and there was no interruption, would they have kissed? Josie knew herself and knew she had wanted to kiss Hope, but did the other girl feel the same? 

She honestly wasn't sure if she had imagined the leaning and had just made herself believe Hope would want to kiss her. 

Had she been misinterpreting all of their interactions? What if Hope just wanted to be friends, and Josie had mistaken it for flirting. 

Lizzie's voice was still talking, but she could hardly recognize anything outside her heart's beating and blood rushing through her ears. The thoughts began to tumble in a broad stream of chaos and confusion.

"Josie? Josie? Are you there? You answered, but can you hear me?!" 

She's finally brought out of her reservoir. Lizzie's voice is like ice water being added to her veins. It jolts her to move, and her mouth is speaking words her mind has yet to process.

"Hope and I almost kissed." 

She hears more yelling from her sister's end, and the questions being asked, but is unable to process any of that.

"We would have kissed, I'm almost certain of it now. But then you called, and the sound stopped us, and I think it scared Hope off, so I'm not sure."

Lizzie curses loudly. "I cannot believe I just cock blocked you both!! I'm supposed to be getting you together, not tearing you apart!"

Josie's brow furrows as she actually processes Lizzie's words. "What do you mean, get us together? This isn't another Lizzie Saltzman plan, right?"

There's silence on her sister's end. It makes Josie groan in frustration.

"Lizzie!! You promised you wouldn't try to hook me up with anyone else after what happened with Rafael! Don't you remember any of the times you tried to help me in high school!?"

"It's not my fault that you're a dictionary definition of a mess when a pretty person looks at you for more than a second! You need all the help you can get." 

Josie's brow furrows, she feels offended by the statement but knows she can't really fight it. 

"Stay out of my love life, Lizzie. I mean it." She finishes with a pout. 

"What love life, Josette? By the time you get a move on at your pace, I'm going to be old and decrepit."

"Excuse you! Hope and I were literally about to kiss before you had to call!"

"Don't remind me. I'm going to have to go into overdrive when I get back. I won't stop till I'm planning your wedding. Hmm, does Josette Mikaelson sound good?" 

"Lizzie!" Is all Josie can say with a pathetic whine. Her mind shifts to the mere idea of seeing Hope in a white dress or maybe even a suit. She stops herself feeling her cheeks flush, it's way too soon for that.

"Dad would have a fit if you change your last name. Though Mikaelson is a good fit for you." Lizzie says offhandedly. It only emphasizes Josie's blush and thoughts.

"Don't remind me. Dad would have a fit at just Hope and I interacting and being friends."

"Seriously, Jo, out of all the people you could have fallen for, how did you fall for the child of our dad's greatest enemy?" 

"Stop it, Lizzie. I didn't fall for anyone."

There's a clear scoff at the other end of the line. "Right, Josette, I believe you. It's not like you're completely whipped for the hot and sexy bartender."

"Goodbye, Lizzie." She doesn't give her sister a chance to continue the teasing before hanging up the phone. She sits down on the couch as her mind goes to the almost kiss that took place, not twenty minutes prior.

She hits, ignoring as her sister tries to call her back. Maybe she'll learn not to tease me so much. 

'Lizzie is right. I am so whipped.'

The week went by faster than she would have thought possible. Josie was incredibly nervous about dinner. 

At the office, she had seen Freya walking and had almost run down an intern because she had felt so flustered. 

Hope had tried to calm her down multiple times over text and once when Josie had found time after work to go to the bar. At this point, her "going to the bar" meant going to the break room with Hope and distracting the redhead from her work. At least that's what Maya had said.

Since Josie had been going to the bar so often the past few weeks, she got to know the rest of the bartenders that weren't Maya or Hope. 

Now that her week had ended, she was busy attempting to get ready for dinner with the Mikaelson family.

Lizzie was still gone and wouldn't be back till tomorrow, so she couldn't help Josie choose an outfit or calm her anxieties. 

She's busy trying on her seventh outfit combination when she hears the door to her apartment open. Fearing the worst, she grabs an umbrella as protection and slowly makes her way out to the room, creeping along the walls. She hears noises and movement in her kitchen, so she jumps out and gets ready to swing down on the intruder.

Seeing blonde hair, she stops but not without the other girl screaming at her.

"Josie! Why are you trying to kill me with an umbrella?" 

"You're in my apartment! I thought you were gone till tomorrow night?" She sets down the umbrella and hugs her sister tight. Her heart is still racing fast from thinking an intruder was in her apartment.

"Well, Mary Poppins, everything ended earlier than expected. I got on the first flight available, so I could help my twin get ready for her date with a cute bartender." 

Flushing slightly but also relieved that her sister was here, "it's not a date, but I'm so glad you're here. I have nothing to wear." 

"Oh, of course not a date, just meeting the family, which includes the head boss of the company you work at." Lizzie lets herself be dragged into Josie's room and looks around at all the clothes that line the floor. 

Lizzie looks around momentarily before looking into the brunette's closet. 

"See! I have nothing to wear!" She flops back on her bed and groans loudly at the thought. 

"When is Hope supposed to be here to pick you up?" The blonde asks as she steps into the closet and rifles through the clothes still there.

Josie looks at the clock and nearly has a heart attack. "Oh, gosh! She's supposed to be here in less than twenty minutes. Lizzie! Help me!" 

"Calm down, Jo, you're giving me twin anxiety. Just breathe, okay?" Lizzie comes out, holding a white sundress. "You already did your hair and makeup, so all you have to do is change, and you'll be ready. Just breathe." 

She does as her sister says and puts on the dress while taking quite a few deep breaths. Her heart swells with affection and love for her sister. It wasn't too many years ago where she and Lizzie had been too codependent on each other. She had often neglected her own mental health and happiness for the benefit of Lizzie. They had been able to work through things as they went to college and had gotten older. It made Josie feel so appreciative for her sister for how far both of them have come.

She takes a few more deep breaths when she hears her a knock on her door and Lizzie answering it. 'I can do this. I can do this.' She takes a shaky breath and steel's herself to face Hope.

Walking out her bedroom door Hope stops talking when she sees Josie, there's a slight blush on her cheeks as her eyes widen.

"Whoa… you're absolutely beautiful." 

Hope doesn't take her eyes off, Josie. Continuing to flutter throughout her body before looking her in the eyes.

Josie takes Hope's appearance and drinks in her jeans and leather jacket combo that she absolutely loves. The white t-shirt under it makes her thoughts go to James Dean. She really is a daydream.

Realizing she's just been ogling Hope and hasn't replied, her blush intensifies as words begin to tumble out of her mouth. 

"You look so gorgeous too, I'm loving the leather jacket on you, but I would love anything on you. Or off of you." 

She bites her lip hard to shut herself up from saying anything more, but the damage had already been done.

Lizzie cackles which breaks some of the tension. It doesn't stop Hope from taking a step closer with that annoyingly smug look on her face. 

"I'd love for you to see me with nothing on babe, but at least buy me dinner first." The wink sends her soul to another plane of existence. Dear God, she was too gay for this. 

"Okay, No flirting with my sister while I'm present."

Her cheeks burned from the teasing from both Hope and Lizzie. When she speaks, her voice is two octaves higher than usual.

"Okay, how about we go and forget I said anything!" She grabs Hope's hand and is about to drag her out the door before Lizzie steps in front to stop her.

"I want you home no later than eleven." 

Josie scowls at her sister's words, which fortunately makes her forget her embarrassment momentary. "Lizzie, I'm an adult. You can't give me a curfew." 

Lizzie glances at Hope and decides to ignore Josie. "You better make sure she's home by eleven, or else she won't be coming to the bar at all next week." 

Hope does nothing but raises an eyebrow at the command. After a moment, she nods her head ever so slightly.

"Lizzie! You can't just threaten my date to get your way! You couldn't stop me even if you wanted to!" 

Apparently, Lizzie doesn't care for the semantics and leans forward to kiss Josie on her cheek and pushes both girls out the door.

Josie takes what she thought earlier about her sister back, she's just annoying. 

"I'm sorry about her. She's a little overprotective." 

She doesn't realize she and Hope are holding hands until Hope squeezes and smiles at her. She reaches up with her free hand and tucks a stray hair behind Josie's ear. 

"Don't worry about it, okay? I get overprotective family, trust me. As your date, I think I can handle a little bit of overprotectiveness." She finishes with a wink that sends her into a flutter.

They begin their walk to the car, Hope's hand still tight in hers. When they get to Hope's car, Josie frowns at the idea that she has to give the hand back and yearns for the warmth. 

Hope as the gentlewoman she opens her door for her and closes it. Once they begin to drive away, she takes Josie's hand in her's again.

She can't stop the giddy butterflies she feels. The anxiety from before is still present but has lessened the second she saw Hope.

They don't talk much other than small tall, enjoying the silence as smooth jazz fills the car from Hope's radio.

When they pull up to two giant gates, Josie is almost sure they're in the wrong place. Hope had said her house was big, but as they drive along the pathway to the house, it is more like a mansion. 

She looks over at Hope and gives a sly smirk. "Wow, Hope, I didn't know you were a spoiled rich kid." 

They pull into a place to park along the front. The redhead scoffs and looks over at Josie, holding eye contact with the same intensity. "As if your mother isn't some world-renowned fashionista. Don't you guys have a lake house?" 

Josie's about to Reply, but Hope gently grabs hold of her cheek with her hand and runs her thumb along the contours of her face. Whatever words she was going to say died before they could even start to leave her throat. Josie was unable to look away. 

Hope kept the gaze before speaking. "You are so beautiful, Jo." 

And then as suddenly as the moment had come, it passes when Hope retracts her hand and gets out of the car. Josie is left in a dazed state and slowly stumbles out of her side. 

Hope is there to help her step out of the car. The girl wraps an arm around her waist, there to guide her to the door.

Hope has a key and steps forwards to unlock the house leading Josie inside. 

The mansion is vast, and the walls are covered in paintings. Josie is momentarily blinded at how bright everything appears to be and the amount of care each painting has. 

Hope takes her hand once more and guides her through a series of twists and turns, making it feel a bit as if she's in a maze. 

She's a little worried about getting lost in the house and not finding her way back. If Hope wasn't here, she would be screwed.

Josie loves how strong Hope's hands feel in hers. Though they are a lot smaller, they hold a texture and slight calluses that feel amazing in Josie's hand. 

Hope keeps their hold on each other as they enter the kitchen, laughter inside the door. 

They step through to see two women dancing and a little boy in a high chair laughing. 

She glances at Hope and enjoys seeing the smile present on the bartenders face, it's soft and filled with love. 

The two women notice them after a few seconds. One being her boss Freya, and the other a gorgeous woman she had never met before. 

"Hey, Aunt Freya, Keelin!" 

Hope steps and hugs both tightly. Josie is surprised when they both sweep her in a hug as well. She might be surprised but revels in any touch that's freely given, surprised, or not.

Hope introduces her after the hug. Seeing himself left out, the adorable baby boy sitting in the high chair begins to make noise.

"Hello to you to buddy!" Hope scoops up the child and hugs him. The boy wraps his legs around Hope's waist and clings to her.

Hope spins in a circle, and both begin to laugh. Josie can't look away from the adorable scene in front of her. She doesn't understand what Hope had meant before about not being good with kids, she's a natural.

"That's Niklaus, named after Hope's father. He loves his aunt Hope." Keelin stands to her left and Freya to her left. She smiles at both before turning her attention to Hope, who is talking animatedly with Nicklaus. 

"I can see why, she's amazing." She tries to keep the awe out of her voice but fails miserably. She doesn't notice the look both aunts give each other in response.

"Do you need any help with dinner?" Josie offers while looking over to the kitchen. Hope comes over with Nik on her hip and a smile on her face. "Thank you, but we're just about ready. Why don't you and Hope sit down, and we can start dishing everything up?" 

And soon they all are around the table eating. Josie had feared that dinner would be awkward, but Hope's aunts are fun. Freya may run a huge company and have a ton of responsibilities, but she was also a party girl back in the day, apparently.

Keelin begins to tell a story about how she and her wife had met. It was so sweet if you looked past the hit and run that had brought them together.

Hope in this setting is so different than when she's at the bar. When she's working, she has this calm sexy exterior that's mysterious. Right now, she's dropped her pretenses, and she's able to laugh without regard. Her walls are completely down.

Josie wants to see all sides of Hope that there is, wants to see and know everything about the girl to her left. 

The thought terrifies her. 

Hope must see her staring because she looks over, and their eyes meet. The smile the redhead gives her is so beautiful it takes her breath away. She feels her hand being grabbed and brought to Hope's lips. A small kiss on the back of her hand that has red painting across her cheeks. 

The dinner is amazing, nothing too personal was asked that Josie had a problem sharing, and she was able to learn more about Hope and her family. 

"Excuse you, I was an angel in high school compared to everyone in our family."

Freya sits back with an eyebrow raise that could only be described as 'the mom look'.

"Oh, really? So you, Maya and Ethan being sent to jail for disturbing the peace was angel-like behavior?" 

Josie can barely hide the laughter that almost spills out, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. 

Hope can only look so defiant with the red making its way up her neck. "That was all Maya's fault, I'm the only one who wasn't drunk out of the three of us." 

Freya holds the stare with a smirk of her own. "What about the girl you tried to sneak into your room Sophomore year? Or maybe when you thought smoking weed was a good idea at your senior prom?" 

"Okay fine, maybe I wasn't the best, but I didn't get up to anywhere near the amount of stuff you and aunt Rebekah did when you were my age."

It's like a ping pong match the two going back and forth with stories of chaos. Josie really enjoys this; it reminds her of how she and Lizzie are with each other to an extent. She wonders how Hope would be with all the Mikaelson family present.

She feels a slight pang of hurt at how divided her family is and has become. Her father was rarely home when they were growing up. When he was, he wasn't emotionally there for neither her nor Lizzie. 

She had gotten the least amount of attention growing up, Lizzie after being diagnosed had a hard time. Which led to her dad giving the little attention he had to her. Josie was often left in the dust to fend for herself. 

Her mother was gone more than she was present.

She breathes deeply at the thought and pushes it away from her mind, not wanting to spoil the wonderful night she had been having.

Keelin must notice because she leans over and squeezes her shoulder, "you okay, darling?" 

She smiles and nods her head. The conversation continues as dinner finishes. They clear out the plates, and Josie watches as Keelin and Freya work simultaneously to take care of Niklaus. They clean his face, take him out of his high chair, and set him down to play with toys.

They all sit around the couches in the living room with Nik at the center.

There's a shift as Freya gets a look in her eye that Josie could only describe as calculated. Why did the entirety of the Mikaelsons family feel a bit like predators while Josie was a lowly bunny?

"So, Josie, are you dating anyone?" 

She swallows hard and feels Hope tense up next to her. She glances at the redhead and sees her shoot her aunt a glare. 

"Um no, I'm not dating anyone. I had a bad breakup a few months back, so I'm currently mending a broken heart." 

Freya hums in acknowledgment. "I'm sorry to hear that. Hope went through something similar a while back." 

"Aunt Freya." There's a warning in Hope's tone. Josie watches between the two women as a silent conversation takes place in front of her. 

Nik, who had been playing with toys, had soon gotten bored and crawled over to her. He uses her legs as help to stand up. She smiles at the boy and picks him up when his arms go up to show he wants to be held.

He laughs, an adorable giggle as he settles in her lap. He was the most precious thing. 

The tensions dissipated between Hope and Freya. Josie looks up to see she has all three sets of eyes on her and can feel herself flush under the attention. 

"Josie, would you like to see some of Hope's baby pictures?" 

Keelin asks this, both wives must be working in tandem together. The brunette lights up at the offer and is about to joyously accept before Hope shuts it down. 

"I'm going to show Josie my room!" She's standing up and hands Nik off to Freya and nearly drags the taller girl up without looking back. She's almost disappointed at not seeing cute pictures of the redhead. 

The second both girls are gone up a set of stairs, the other two women begin to laugh at their niece's expense. 

"Aw, I would have loved to see baby Hope!" 

Hope flushes at the words. "Nope. Not happening." 

They're at the top of the stairs heading down a long hallway. Josie pushes Hope against the wall and presses her body against the redheads. 

"But baby, I'm sure you'd look so adorable." She has no idea where the confidence comes from but is glad it happened when Hope seems unable to speak. 

The bartender swallows hard before clearing her throat. "I am not adorable. I'm badass." 

Josie can't help the chuckle that leaves her mouth, Hope was wearing a pout that made her look so much younger than she actually was. It also made her previous statement invalid.

Josie doesn't comment anything else but steps away from Hope and pulls her down the hallway. The bartender still in a daze.

"You're going to have to lead, miss badass, I have no idea where I'm going." 

That seems to snap Hope out of her daze. She leads Josie further down the hallway and to a room on the left. 

The room resembles Hope so perfectly. Paints and canvases much like her apartment. 

It fits the girl perfectly, there's pictures that line the wall, Josie's eyes drift to each of them.

There's one with a young Hope with who she assumes is her entire family.

There's some with a tall man that holds similarities to Hope, who must be her father.

All the pictures Hope looks so entirely at peace and happy that it makes Josie smile.

There's some more with Maya and Ethan, where Hope is riding on Ethan's back with Maya laughing beside them.

Hope steps close behind her. "You look so happy with your family." 

She smiles at Hope, looking over her shoulder.

"You're so beautiful." 

Josie isn't expecting this at all, she turns her body entirely towards Hope and presses her lips to the bartender's cheek. "So are you." 

They stay like that for a few moments when Josie presses her forehead down on top of Hope's. 

Being so close to each other charges the air between them with a tension that had been present since they walked up the stairs. 

Josie places another kiss on Hope's forehead and moves back a few steps. 

Josie thought from the week before presents itself once again in her thoughts.

'Would she want me to kiss her?' 

Her eyes dance across Hope's face before landing to the floor, her anxiety and worry enough to stop her from making the first move. 

"I was right, you know. You were adorable as a kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait and the shorter chapter, Hope you enjoy

Hope and Josie left the Mikaelson manor around 10:00 PM that night. 

Before they had left, little Nik had needed to be put to bed and was very vocal about Hope being the one to do it. 

She picked up the boy and swung him through the air in a circle, his laughs filling the air. "Come on, buddy, let's get you to bed."

She walks up the giant staircase towards the boys' room, Keelin follows behind as well. When the creaks from the stairs are no longer heard, Josie can feel a set of eyes turn towards her.

She feels nervously instantly at the attention, feeling as if she was about to get the shovel talk. That was crazy, she and Hope were just friends, Freya couldn't know how Josie feels about Hope… right?

"So, Josie, how's your father doing?" 

She can feel her entire body freeze at Freya's question. That was definitely not a question she was expecting to be asked. The question feels loaded as if it has multiple layers, she swallows hard before she can answer.

Josie doesn't delude herself into thinking that the Mikaelson's don't know about her family. Hope may not have realized at first, but she knows Freya would know.

"He's doing fine, another few more years and he'll retire out of the force." She's being scrutinized, Freya has a stare, much like a cobra coiled and ready to strike. It terrifies her how her boss is looking at her, but she holds the gaze and doesn't relent. 

"That's good. You must be aware of the bad blood between our families in the past, and I ask that you don't tell your father about your newfound 'friendship' with Hope, I fear he may not take it well." 

How Freya said friendship made it seem like the word had more meaning to it than it did. 

Her request was reasonable, something Josie was planning on doing anyway, her dad was not the most forgiving person, yet it set her on edge. 

She does nod and finally breaks eye contact with Freya's intense gaze. 

"My dad doesn't need to know. He doesn't know most of mine or Lizzie's friends, so that shouldn't be a problem." 

There's a tension that hadn't been there the whole night that set her nerves on edge. 

Freya still held the calculating look, but it was softened. "How do you feel about Hope?" 

She takes a shuddering breath and shifts uncomfortably, what can she even tell Hope's aunt? 'I have a giant crush on your niece and would love to call her my girlfriend?' 

That would go just spectacular.

"She's an amazing friend. I care about her a lot, even if we've only known each other for a little while." 

Freya regards her carefully.

"I'm not saying this to scare you away, but you need to know that Mikaelson's care for their own. Hope hasn't had an easy life, she doesn't love easily either, but when she does love, she does it entirely. Be careful with my niece, Josette."

She swallows hard and is about to speak, but the words get caught in her throat.

"I care about Hope, I only want the best for her." That interaction helped solidify Josie's own feelings and a spark of hope that maybe they could be reciprocated. 

Hope comes bounding down the stairs with Keelin in tow, laughing as they come. Josie catches Hope's eyes, and the redhead's smile lights up the room. 

Josie smiles back just as hard, feeling a wave of emotions flood through her. 

"Sorry for the wait, Little Nik didn't want to go to bed without a story." Hope steps next to her side and places a hand on the small of her back. Her eyes glance between Freya and Josie carefully analyzing both. 

"Not a problem." The taller girl leans into Hope's touch, readily wanting to feel any touch the bartender gave her. 

They say their goodbyes soon after, Freya leans over and gives a hug to Hope and Josie. She still feels a little weird that she had dinner with her boss and boss's wife, but the feeling soon passed. 

The sky was dark and filled with stars. The manor was a drive away from the city, so the stars filled the sky in a beautiful ray of light. 

They hop into Hope's car and are about to drive away. 

"I want to show you something, it's not your designated curfew just yet, and since we're out here, I want to show you a place." Hope looks a little nervous and unsure. Before Josie can even answer, Hope is tumbling over more words.

"If you don't want to, though, I can take you home." Josie smiles in what she hopes is a reassuring way, leaning over and grabs Hope's hand. 

"I'd love to go wherever you want to take me." 

Weight is taken off of Hope's shoulders, and with that, they're off driving towards the darkened skies.

The drive is silent, their hands warm together and held tightly. It's not long before they arrive at wherever Hope wants to show Josie and then pull off to the side where they park the car. 

When they get out, it's to a slight cliff overlooking the city, lights shining in the distance. 

It was stunning. There was an edge to sky down on where Hope led the brunette. Both girls situated themselves with their legs over the side, and their shoulders pressed together.

"Hope this is beautiful." There's a large amount of awe in her voice as she takes in the beauty before her. 

Hope looks towards Josie and locks their hands together. The brunette's head swivels over and watches as Hope brings the back of her hand to the redhead's lips. 

The touch is soft and barely there, but is exhilarating. They keep their hands locked while overlooking the edge of the cliff.

They are both silent as they stay like that, enjoying the sites and the company even more.

"Thank you for tonight Hope, I had an amazing time with your family, and this spot is so beautiful."

Hope smiles at her and watches from the corner of her eye. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. My aunts really like you." 

They're so close together that their shoulders brush with every breath they take, so close yet not close enough.

"I used to come out here a lot when I was a teenager. It was a good place to think when life would get overwhelming." 

Josie looks back over to Hope and catches her gaze, though the words seem heavy, a smile sits at the edge of Hope's lips.

"So brooding was your go-to even as a teen?" There's a teasing lilt in Josie's voice, delighting in the playful glare Hope gives her.

"Excuse you, I do not brood." 

"Sure, you don't, broody mcbroody." 

The glare turns to an evil smirk. Josie has seen this look too often on her sister to know that nothing good is brought from a look such as the one Hope wears now. As quick as possible, she bolts up and runs, Hope following after her.

Within moments Hope's arms are around her and taking her down to the ground. The redhead is extra careful to make sure she doesn't hurt Josie and is conscious about the edge of the cliff now ten feet away.

She makes quick work of her pin and is now straddling Josie's hips with her legs on either side. The taller girl fights back halfheartedly, which Hope easily grabs her hands and holds them above her head.

"I think apologies are in order, Jo, don't you think?" She has one hand holding both Josie's, the other tracing small patterns on the girl's stomach. 

Josie squirms in the hold in a weak attempt to free herself from Hope. Not that she really wants the older girl off of her.

"Never! Don't act like you don't brood! I've talked to Maya, I know all your secrets!" Hope can only chuckle at that, a small wave of fear at what Maya told the girl below her.

"You sure you don't want to take the easy way out, Jo? I'm pretty sure you might want to?" She shakes her head firmly, the fingers are incessant and begin to tickle Josie's stomach immediately after. 

The loud shriek of laughter and squirming begin as Hope continues with her teasing and tickling.

"Hope! Hope, stop! I surrender!" The bartender stops her moving and looks down at Josie, the girl panting heavily from the exertion.

Hope has to stop herself from leaning forward, her face heating as she realizes the position she's put them in. 

Straddling Josie and tickling her till she begged for mercy may not have been the best idea in hindsight.

At least not the best idea for her sanity.

She releases her hold on Josie, but the girl doesn't move, her hands still above her head, and both are trying to catch their breath.

She turns her face into a cocky smirk, which she has used far too often and begins to get off. "That's all I needed to hear, Jo. I accept your apology." 

Josie smacks her arm with a little scoff as Hope helps her off of the ground. 

"There's still time to get you back home before Lizzie's curfew if we hurry." 

With one last glance at the view, they're back in the car heading to Josie's apartment. It doesn't take long before they arrive, and Hope walks up with Josie to her door.

"I had a really great time tonight," Josie says, her hands fiddling with each other. 

"I did too, maybe we could do this again sometime? We still have to plan that dinner date with our friends soon. I'd like to meet Lizzie a bit more formally than the two seconds she gave me the shovel talk."

Josie's eyes widen, and her head snaps up to meet Hope's "She gave you the shovel talk!?" Anger and outrage floods through her entire system for a moment but dissipates as soon as she gets lost in the deep blue of Hope's eyes.

"More like a quick don't hurt my sister type of thing, I figure it was mild compared to what I'd get if we were dating." 

The second the words leave the bartender's lips, she looks like she regrets them. She doesn't take them back but holds Josie's stare.

The taller girl leans down and places a delicate kiss right on the corner of Hope's lips and cheek. The touch lingers for a few seconds before she pulls away, enjoying the blush that now touches across the redhead's face.

"Thank you again, Hope." 

And with that, they say their final Goodnight as Josie steps through her apartment door. She leans back against it and touches her hand to her lips, where she had kissed Hope on her cheek. 

Her apartment lights were mostly off, so she figured Lizzie had left sometime earlier. However, when the lamplight came on illuminating her sister sitting on a chair without warning, she let out a small scream in surprise. 

"She got you here on time, I'm impressed." 

"Lizzie! What the hell! Why are you sitting in the dark like a creep?!" She has her hand to her chest as her heart continues to pound.

"How was your date with the shorty? Does she carry a crate with her so she can stand on it to kiss you, or do you just get a kink in your neck leaning down?"

"Lizzie!" Josie all but yells, her face growing hotter. "Please kindly shut up, or I won't tell you anything."

"Alright fine, I'll play nice, but I want details, how did it go?" Lizzie moves to stand next to Josie and grabs her face turning her to the left and then the right looking at her neck. The strange actions made the words die in her throat. Her sister was known to do things without reason, but she didn't know what to make of this.

"Well, you don't have any hickeys, so it couldn't have been that good of a date." 

"Lizzie!" 

She ended up chasing her sister around her apartment for a few minutes; it was nostalgic from when they were teens. 

She gushed to Lizzie after they had stopped prancing around her apartment and told her everything that happened. How cute Hope was with her nephew, the stars and view, the cheek kiss. She really was so far gone for someone she wasn't even dating. (She left out the straddling and the tickling, Lizzie really didn't need to know about that).

Josie fell asleep that night wondering what would have happened if she had kissed Hope sometime during the night. 

The weekend went by far too quickly, work went by as well, leaving Josie and Lizzie at the bar on a Tuesday night. 

She tried to convince her sister not to come with her, she really didn't want her sanctuary to be ruined by whatever plot or scheme Lizzie was working on. 

It's been a little while since she had plotted, and Josie could just feel her sister's plan in action, though she had no idea what it would be. If it was anything like how her usual plans went, Josie would end up being embarrassed. 

They walk through the door together, only having a few customers, and get situated at a table not far from the bar area. Seeing Hope become free from taking orders, Josie immediately jumps up. "I'm going to go get a drink, you want anything?"

"Ooh, get me a sex on the beach." Josie reddens at the request and walks towards where Hope is at. Lizzie watches the two beginning to talk and lean closer to each other. 

After the next five minutes of watching them, Lizzie begins to feel a bit creepy at staring at the two. She also realizes she's not getting her drink anytime soon with the two oblivious bafoons talking (read: flirting). 

How oblivious could her sister be, Hope was leaning in and staring at Josie with love stuck eyes. 

The blonde groans loudly at having to get her own drink and walks to the bar where the other bartender has to pick up the slack from her coworker. 

Her eyes stay on the forms of her sister and the short redhead while she waits. "Hey, what can I get you?" She rolls her eyes and doesn't look at the bartender. 

"How can two people be so oblivious? One of them needs to make the first move." She groans loudly in despair. "Are you Josie's sister?" Lizzie's head whips over to the beautiful bartender who is now leaning forward, curiosity piqued. 

"I'm Lizzie. Josie's twin. Fraternal, obviously." She cringes slightly at her and Josie's mantra, they hadn't done that since they were kids. The bartender looks amused before speaking. "I'm Maya, Hope's friend. Bartender, obviously." There's mischief dancing in her eyes, a look Lizzie is all too familiar with, one she's seen on herself more than once. 

"I think we have some things to talk about." Both girls shift their mouths into a smirk, eyes drifting back to the two girls who have no idea what is to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maya and Lizzie are going to cause chaos together 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! let me know what you think =)


	9. Chapter 9

Lizzie and Josie were hanging out at Josie's apartment on one of the few days Josie didn't go to the bar. A movie plays in the background that they're halfheartedly watching. 

Lizzie tells a story about a guy she met while working and something along the lines of getting his number. Josie is trying to listen but gets distracted halfway through by her phone buzzing. 

Her heart jumps in her chest and makes her automatically reach out to take it and unlock it to see a message from the bartender that was always on her mind.

Hope: Hey Jo, Work is boring without you here =(

Josie: Oh, you poor thing, however are you going to survive?

Hope: You're so mean to me! I'm trying to be sweet and mourn your presence, and you're mocking me =(

The brunette begins to chuckle at her phone, already trying to type a reply. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten how nosy Lizzie was and could be. 

"Is that Hope?" Lizzie leans over, trying to read over Josie's shoulder to catch a glimpse of what is being said.

"Yes, it is," Josie says, leaning away from her sister without thinking. Having a sibling meant you got really good at stopping them from snooping. 

"What is she saying?" Josie doesn't answer but keeps typing her reply and is about to send it but stops at Lizzie's next question.

"Are you two sexting?" Josie chokes on her own saliva as she looks at her sister scandalized. "No! We are not sexting." Though they really were not, her blush doesn't die down and grows stronger at the mere thought. She hasn't even kissed Hope other than their cheek kisses. 

Lizzie continues to glare and stares at her with untrustworthy shifty eyes. "I think you're lying. You look like you just saw a picture of Hope's boobs." That makes Josie's blush intensify even more. The mere thought is enough to send her body into overheating and resembling a tomato. Lizzie tries to steal another glance at her phone, but she clutches it to her chest, eyes closed, and trying to stop her blush. 

"I can guarantee you she did not send me a picture of her… a picture like that." She closes her eyes, trying to get the visuals out of her head, which is a mistake. While she's distracted, Lizzie makes a last-ditch effort and grabs Josie's phone right out of her hand.

"Well, if you're not sexting, then you shouldn't mind if I read through your texts!"

She's not fast enough to reach Lizzie before the blonde has locked herself in her bathroom. "Lizzie, I swear I am going to kill you if you don't give me back my phone." She keeps her voice, even trying to contain the rage she feels.

Josie takes a small amount of comfort in the idea that Lizzie doesn't know her passcode to get into her phone. That relief is short-lived when she hears a cackling behind the closed door.

"Really, Jo? You put Josette Mikaelson as your passcode for your phone?"

She had thought her face was already as red as it could have been. She was wrong. Her entire face lit up as heat overtook it with a terrible mix of embarrassment and shame.

"How did you guess that?" her voice no more than a squeak.

A scoff from the bathroom. "As if you didn't do the same thing with Penelope, Josette Park. along with all your other crushes in high school as well." There's silence only for a moment before Lizzie is speaking once again. 

"Oh Josie, look at you, flirting! I'm so proud." She's dead, Josie Saltzman has died from embarrassment and can no longer function.

"Lizzie, please stop." she can only whine at this point, at the whims of her sister's chaotic cruelty.

Josie: Oh, baby, is there any way I can make it up to you? I would love to show you just how much I miss you ;)

"Lizzie, open up the door, and we can watch the movie! Please?" In her embarrassment, Josie forgot that she has a master key to all the rooms in her house. Once she remembers, she leaves to grab it quickly from the drawer it is hidden in. 

Hope, who is on the opposite side of town, automatically looks down at her phone when it buzzes. Her face lights up, seeing that Josie had texted back. 

Maya asks her a question, but she freezes at the text, her face darkening with a deep blush. That doesn't sound like something Josie would say at all, but she can imagine her saying it. A pout on her lips, her eyes gazing up at Hope darkened and ready to do anything the bartender asked of her. 

Maya looks at her strangely frozen body. Hope squeezes her eyes shut as she tries to stop the images that are rapidly flying through her mind. 

The black-haired girl leans over and reads the texts that are lit up on the screen, a smirk falling into place. This was definitely a shock and not something the 'innocent' Josie would send to Hope. 

Maya slips the phone out of Hope's hand, who doesn't even notice, still trying to control herself from the simple text. 

Hope: There are definitely a few ways that come to mind. Maybe if you come over to my place later, you can make it up to me thoroughly. 

Maya smirks at what the brunette will send back, glancing at Hope, who has her eyes opened now but still glazed over.

Lizzie, who was on the other end of the phone, smiles mischievously, all Hope and Josie needed was a little nudge and they would be all over each other. She finds it almost too hard to believe that Hope would send something like that back. Before she can even craft a response, the door flings open, and an angry Josie stands.

The fight is short-lived as the two sisters clash fighting for the phone. In the end, Josie's vengeance wins as she grabs it out of her sister's hand and runs as fast as she can out of the bathroom. She yells, feeling victorious, and is already typing how her sister had stolen her phone, not reading the texts that she or Hope had sent. 

Feeling a bit worried at what Lizzie could have sent, she decides to call Hope and explain rather than text into her.

Maya, who still had Hope's phone in hand, smirks at seeing the name pop up. "Hey, Hope, it's for you, are you coherent enough to talk to your girl?"

The redhead nods dumbly and shakes her head, hand outstretched to take the phone.

She answers it and clears her throat before she can speak though, Josie had already exploded in a stream of apologies. 

"I'm so sorry, my sister took my phone and wouldn't give it back; I don't know what she sent, but I'm so sorry." 

Hope hears the words and is brought back from her underwater adventure, the world shifting to a clearer and more vibrant place than when she had gotten lost. Now, everything was in high-definition. 

"Hey, hey, it's all good, I'm pretty sure Maya stole my phone and texted something back too, why don't we disregard whatever both of us said, okay?"

She interrupted the ramblings of the brunette, hopefully putting her at ease. 

"That sounds great. Amazing. Spectacular." Josie closes her eyes and wonders why she must be this awkward around Hope.

She calms at hearing the chuckle at the other end of the line. "Good, I wanted to ask if you and Lizzie are free tomorrow night, I know it's short notice, but Ethan is coming into town for the weekend, and I'd love for all of us to be able to go to dinner? If you guys are free, that is."

Hope feels nervous for some reason, wanting to not pressure the other girl at all but really wanting her to meet her friends in a more formal setting. 

"I'd love too, Hope. Let me check with Lizzie real quick." 

The blonde Saltzman had been keeping herself busy by advancing her and Maya's 'ingenious' plan to get the two girls together, updating her on what had just happened.

Lizzie: stage one was a success, this entire operation is going to go easier than I anticipated. You didn't tell me how whipped Hope was for my sister

Maya: I thought it was obvious. What did you do? How did you get Josie to txt Hope something like that?

Lizzie: I stole her phone and sent that txt Lmao, Hope enthusiastically texted back, basically begging Josie to come over 

Maya: …… 

Maya: I stole Hope's phone and was texting Josie…

Lizzie: FUCK!!! 

"Hey, Lizzie?" Josie's voice finally snaps her out of her reservoir, a scowl present on her face at the foiled plan. She and Maya really needed to coordinate better on when they were going to strike. Getting in the way of each other was not going to push the plan further.

"Yes, dearest sister?" 

The brunette had walked closer to where Lizzie now sat on the couch. 

"Are you free tomorrow night? Hope's friend is coming into town and wants us to go to dinner if we're able to." 

Lizzie thinks it over and already has her answer but wants to make Josie wait.

"Hmm, I might be, what's in it for me?" 

Josie rolls her eyes and then narrows them. "You're not in the place to be making demands after what you just pulled, are you free or not?" 

She huffs indignantly but speaks nonetheless. "I finish work around five tomorrow, so I should be free for dinner." Her eyes widen at the squeal that leaves her sister's mouth. 

"Thanks Liz!" She's turning around and talking to Hope excitedly before Lizzie could say another word.

The blonde rolls her eyes at how much Josie resembles a hyperactive puppy when talking with Hope.

Lizzie: Apparently we're doing dinner tomorrow night, this will be perfect to start stage two

Maya: you know it, babe, maybe this will go better than stage one. Btw Ethan knows about the plan.

Lizzie thinks about what she and Maya talked about at the bar the last time they had been in person a few days prior. 

Josie and Hope were too caught up in each other the entire time at the bar, it was far too easy to speak to Maya and scheme.

"What's the best course of action to push them together? They both are too dense to see that their feelings are mutual." Maya says as she's pouring another drink together and handing it to a customer.

Lizzie thinks for a moment before answering. "Josie gets jealous easily, she has a possessive streak; if we bring that side of her out, she will act." 

Her smile darkens at the ideas of how jealous Josie gets. She remembers all the rants and arguments she had to sit through because Penelope would flirt with anything that moved.

The blonde Saltzman looks over at Josie, who is staring her doe eyes at Hope and is listening to her talk. Disgusting. Yet strangely cute.

"I can work with that. Hope has a thing for lingerie. I don't know if we can fit that somewhere, but she'd definitely make a move or not be able to hide her attraction at least if she sees Josie in anything like that." 

Lizzie's smile turns evil as a chuckle leaves her mouth, ideas floating through her mind. 

"I can work with that." 

The rest of their sister's night goes smoothly with Josie having calmed down, having talked to the redhead for a few minutes.

Lizzie watches her sister's eyes sadden, and the pout return when she assumes Hope says she has to leave. 

The redhead did have a job to do, not like she ever did it whenever Josie batted her eyes and asked if she was free. 

They finish the movie that both girls only vaguely paid attention to, both lost in thought. 

They said their goodbyes earlier than they usually did, having work the next morning.

Josie went to bed with a flush on her cheeks when she read through texts that Maya and Lizzie had sent. It made her wonder how Hope would react if she sent something similar. Would she be into it or not? Josie saves the idea for a much later date.

Work the next morning goes without much of anything happening. Freya had been smiling at her and greeting her every time they cross paths, which is new. 

It has only happened a couple times since the dinner, but Josie feels she could get used to it. Freya is a legend, and Josie has always looked up to her.

When she gets off work, she rushes home as fast as she can, not wanting to waste a second to get ready for their dinner date.

Lizzie was supposed to meet her at her house straight after work, and Hope was going to pick both of them up and take them to the restaurant they would go too.

Josie stands in her room, her work clothes still on, and her room once again a mess. Hope had informed her that the restaurant was more formal than casual. 

She finished touching up her hair and makeup before choosing an outfit. Her indecision came from wanting to impress Hope and her friends, fear running through her at meeting another important person in Hope's life.

"Hey, Jo? You all set? Hope should be here soon." Lizzie uses her spare key to let herself into Josie's apartment and steps into her sister's room. Clothes were everywhere on the bed and on the floor when Lizzie looked around. 

"Help?" Is all Josie can say, feeling pathetic.

Lizzie takes a quick look around before grabbing a light purple dress that was still hung up in her closet and laid it out on the bed.

"You should wear this with those flats. You don't want to make Hope feel any shorter than she already is." 

Josie usually would have smacked her sister on the arm for making fun of Hope, but relief filled her at having an outfit that worked. 

"Thanks, Liz, I'm going to change now." She moves to grab the dress, but Lizzie stops her.

"You know, you should wear the lingerie that I, unfortunately, know you have from your time with Satan." 

Josie frowns before looking at Lizzie. "Why would I wear that? It's not like I'm going home with anyone." She trails off as a blush rises on her cheeks at the thought of going home with the redhead.

"No, but you always said you felt more confident wearing them. Maybe this will give you a bit of a boost. Also, that dress is perfect for not wearing a bra, you should forgo one altogether." 

Josie's about to refuse before actually taking in her sister's words. She does feel more confident, Lizzie's not wrong, but she feels weird wearing it without any plan of someone seeing it. She bites her bottom lip in contemplation. 

"Fine. I'll wear some, but there's no way I'm taking off my bra." Lizzie doesn't reply but gets a victorious gleam in her eyes. 

The plan was going perfectly. 

"I'll let you get changed, okay?" She smiles and leaves the room and heads to the kitchen. 

Lizzie looks at her phone and scrolls through her emails for less than a minute before she hears a knock on Josie's door. 

"Hope what a surprise." Lizzie's smile grew, Hope hesitates when she sees it, stopping in her tracks. She doesn't like that look at all, it's almost as if Hope is prey, and Lizzie has signed her up for the slaughter. She doesn't usually feel like that with other people, this is definitely an exception. 

"Lizzie, hey, you look great, where's Josie?" Hope does a quick glance around the room to see if the brunette is in sight. 

"She's finishing getting ready, go on ahead, she's in her room." The creepy smile doesn't leave, but Hope does as asked and makes her way to Josie's room. 

The doors closed, so she opens it and steps through before she stops dead in her tracks at the sight before her. "Lizzie, I told you I'd be done in a minute." Josie turns around to find not her sister but a blushing Hope, whose eyes are moving all over her body. 

She's wearing black lace underwear and a matching bra, and Hope's eyes devour the image. 

Neither girl says a word for about three long seconds until, at the same time, they burst into action. Hope spins around facing the door, slamming it closed in the process as she presses her hands to it. Josie moves out of sight and tries to get her dress on as fast as possible. They both give apologies, the redhead mutters something about Lizzie telling her to go inside. 

Josie was going to murder her sister, she knew Josie was changing and sent Hope in after her anyways. When she finally has her dress, she tries to zip the back up but finds herself shrugging and unable too. 

"Hey, Hope?" 

"Hmm?" She doesn't turn around but does give a muffled sound of question. 

"Can you help me zip up my dress?" 

She sees Hope in the mirror take a shuddered breath, her arms are still outstretched resting against the door. Her entire body is tensed and tight as if it physically pains her to face away from the brunette. 

She finally turns hesitantly around, as if expecting Josie to be half-naked still. Once seeing that Josie is clothed, she appears behind her and slowly starts to zip up the dress. She has one hand resting on her hip that makes Josie take a deep breath at the contact. 

The zipper moves slowly, but finally, it finishes its path. Josie's about to say something, but seeing the dress zipped up fully makes her realize something she hadn't noticed before, her bra can be seen under the dress. Usually, she would just change her bra, but this dress would be perfect to not wear one, just as Lizzie said. 

"Actually, Hope, can you unzip me?" Hope looks confused, a cute puppy tilting her head, but does as asked regardless. Josie steps away from the mirror and has her back to Hope for a second, and then she's taking off her bra. She pulls the straps of the dress back over her shoulders and waltzes back over to Hope's wide-eyed gaze. 

Their eyes meet in the mirror, and Josie feels herself grow more confident at the bartender's stares. She forms her lips into a pout and darkens her gaze to look at Hope through long lashes. "Zip me up again?" 

Hope swallows hard but doesn't say anything still and zips up even slower than the first time. When she finishes, both girl's eyes don't leave the others, staring intensely through the mirror. Hope steps forward even closer as if she's going to wrap her arms around her waist. The way her eyes trailed over Josie's body made her shudder. 

She honestly reveled in the heated look, it made it seem as if Hope wanted to eat her, Josie was not opposed to that idea.

Finally, the extended, intense eye contact stops as Hope steps away, clearing her throat. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Hope, you look amazing." Josie turns to face Hope and takes in her dress. Both girls watch the other and only stop after Lizzie comes into the room. 

"You both decent in here?" Josie feels the need to take a step back from Hope when her sister comes in, eyes covered by her hand. Josie felt their close proximity was too intimate to be seen by her nosy sister. 

"We're decent Lizzie, and ready to go," Josie adds as Lizzie uncovers her eyes.

And with that, they're off, heading toward Hope's car and towards the restaurant where they'll meet the two closest people in Hope's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the chaos begin 😈


	10. Chapter 10

For some unknown reason, Lizzie decided that no, she would not sit in the back of Hope's car and forced Josie to sit in the middle next to Hope.

The blonde also made it apparent that she wanted as much room as possible when she pushed Josie as far as she could into Hope's side. 

"Lizzie, stop it." She pushes back against her sister. "Stop what, Jo?" She says as she pushes Josie's shoulder once again.

Josie can only sigh and lean into Hope more to stop her sisters pushing. Hope doesn't seem to mind, and gladly accepts Josie's warmth. 

She decides to stop fighting altogether and lays her head down on Hope's shoulder, her hand also rests on Hope's thigh. 

Sitting in the middle had always been a hazard to her health. Traveling did not sit well with her, and her stomach was not happy with the seating arrangements. Even if she was enjoying the contact with the bartender.

"Hey, you okay?" Hope asks, seeing Josie's eyes squeezed shut and her breath heavier than usual.

"Mhm, I'm fine, I get car sick, especially in the middle." She would've shot Lizzie a glare because her sister was readily aware of her motion sickness, but that would have required moving.

She stays tightly tucked into Hope's side and allows herself to bask in the touch as much as she can.

"We'll be there soon, is there anything I can do to make it easier?" 

"This is nice, thank you." Josie burrows further and doesn't open her eyes again until they're pulling into a spot right outside a restaurant. 

She sees that they're at a nice restaurant that Josie and Lizzie had talked about going to, but never had gotten around to going.

She slides out of the car, feeling her stomach return ever so slowly to normal and not feeling as if she was going to throw up.

Hope opens the door for both her and Lizzie as they step through into the building.

The redhead walks up to the waitress to get their reservation.

Within a few moments they're being led to a table in the back with five seats lined up, Josie sits down next to Hope, and Lizzie on her other side.

They wait for Maya and Ethan for only a few minutes, soon Maya who Josie already knew and a guy she didn't know, who she assumes to be Ethan. 

Hope sees them and gets up and hugs the boy hard. "Hey, superstar!" 

The redhead looks at Maya, who is waiting for a hug, arms wide. "I don't know if you deserve a hug, you've been mean to me lately." 

The girl scoffs and pulls the shorter girl in and hugs her for a few seconds. The whole affair lasts less than a minute before the attention is now on the twins.

"Guys, this is Josie and Lizzie." Hope beams as she catches Josie's eye. 

Ethan is the first to move and offers a hand to Josie. Instead of shaking it, he brings the back of her hand to his lips and then repeats the action with Lizzie's hand. 

"Hey, Jo, Blondie, how're you both doing?" 

Maya asks as she directs her attention to them as everyone settles down in their chairs. 

Lizzie doesn't respond other than an eye roll directed at Maya's question. 

"You both know each other?" Josie asks in confusion, Lizzie would never let a stranger call her that without some scathing remark. 

"Of course we do, maybe if you didn't canoodle with Hope so much, you'd know that." 

Both girls blush at the statement and avoid eye contact with everyone at the table, especially each other. Maya thankfully saves them from answering. 

"We met the other night at the bar while you two were talking, we've been texting a bit." 

Josie eyes her sister, blush dying down, but before she can ask anything else, the waitress appears.

She's absolutely stunning, long blonde hair, and a smile that seems to light up the room. 

"Hi! I'm Kacey, I'll be your waitress today." 

She goes on to say what the specials are and takes down their drink orders before heading leaving soon after. Josie looks over at Hope and sees the redhead watching the waitress. A slight pang of jealousy hits her. 

With the other two distracted, Lizzie and Maya both share a look together, an evil smile as their plan comes along. 

Josie shakes her head to push down her Jealous ideals and looks more closely at Maya and Ethan. Seeing all of them together makes her brain short circuit. 

'What was in the water where Hope grew up? How is Hope drop-dead gorgeous, Maya absolutely stunning and Ethan stupidly good looking too.'

She's lost in thought for a few seconds as she thinks about it before Ethan starts speaking. 

"How did you two meet exactly? As much as we love our Hope, she's not exactly the type to make friends easily. 

The redhead scowls at that and sends Ethan a glare, she opens her mouth to tell the boy off but stops by Josie answering the question.

"Oh, she kind of saved me from seeing my ex by letting me hide behind the bar for a few minutes." 

Both girls catch the other's eye and share a smile between the two, remembering the night they first met. 

"And she just couldn't stay away from my charm, cause I'm a charmer." 

She sends Ethan a kick under the table, making him grunt in pain before he sends one back, and they get into a childish game of trying to kick the other. 

Josie watches the interaction with barely concealed glee, she enjoys seeing Hope so free and able to be childish. Here, with Maya and Ethan, tension seems to have left her shoulders, a weight she carries holding her down. But now, with friends surrounding her, she doesn't have to pretend to be strong, she can just be.

Josie moves her hand from Hope's thigh and squeezes the redhead's bicep, "we can't forget how humble you are." 

Hope looks at Josie from the corner of her eye, wearing her dopey grin that Josie has grown fond of. Seeing that Josie's hand is resting on her arm, she flexes so the brunette can feel the muscles under her hand.

Josie squeezes harder, feeling slightly flush at how solid Hope is, she'd have to ask if she worked out later, the answer seemed evident considering how rock solid Hope felt.

The two girls continued to stare at each other, smiling, utterly oblivious to the three sets of eyes watching them with knowing grins. 

"Well, while you two are flirting I'm heading to the bathroom, be back in a sec!" Lizzie gets up and begins to head away from the table as Maya gets up as well. "I need to go too!" 

With the two other girls leaving, Josie, let's go of Hope, turns her attention back to Ethan, who is grinning at both. 

"So Ethan, Hope said you play football?" 

He's off explaining to Josie how he had gotten a scholarship in college to play. Hope jumps in to say how hard Ethan had worked for it, having a major setback when his arm got broken during a game sophomore year.

"I was luckily able to heal everything and continue playing. Now I'm playing professionally." 

Hope beams as he talks, Josie, watching her while listening. The brunette doesn't feel the jealousy she's accustomed too when Hope looks at Ethan. It is readily apparent how much they both care for each other, but it seems more familial rather than anything else. 

By the time he's finished talking, Maya and Lizzie, both return, wearing matching grins. Josie looks at both skeptically, feeling a wave of suspicion hit her all of a sudden.

When she was younger, Lizzie would always get up to some sort of mischief and often roped their friends in on it too. Usually Mg. She still had to stay keenly aware of her sister's schemes and was often hyper-aware of them.

The waitress came back with their drinks and set them down at the table. "What can I get everybody?" Thigh the question is directed to the table, she smiles sugary sweet at Hope. 

Everyone orders soon after, but it seems the waitress intends to focus all her attention on Hope. 

The ever-familiar tinge of jealousy climbs it's way into Josie's stomach and makes a home there with every passing second.

Finally, feeling like an eternity, the waitress leaves to go place their orders, a parting squeeze to Hope's arm. 

"Ooh, Hope, it looks like someone is interested!" Maya says. 

The bartender snaps her focus to Maya, a redness making its way up her cheeks. "Shut up, Maya, she is not." She turns away and stares at a spot on the table, a scowl present as if the table offended her.

"I think Maya might be right, there was definitely a spark between you two. You should ask her out." Lizzie, the not helpful, answers unhelpfully. 

The scowl Hope has remained, Josie, wearing a matching frown now. 

"I'm not going to ask her out." 

Ethan also adds, "why not Hopey? You did have a thing for blondes in high school." 

Hope looks up and glares, "I did not, I have a 'thing' for brunettes." As soon as she says this, she can feel the redness rise, and her eyes glance at Josie from the corner of her eye.

Josie takes a large gulp from her drink, which proves to be a mistake when Lizzie says, "That's so interesting, Josie's a brunette."

The sentence sends her into a coughing fit as she practically inhales the water, unable to calm down.

Hope is by her side in a second, a hand on her back, making soothing circles. Once she calms down, she stands up and clears her throat, making a vague gesture to the bathroom before leaving the table. 

When she gets in, she stands in front of the mirror for a few moments staring at her reflection, luckily no one else was in the bathroom. 

"You are not going to be jealous. Hope can ask out anyone she chooses too." It's a little strange talking to her reflection, but she quickly gets over it when the door opens a few seconds after she stops talking.

The same person that filled her thoughts walls through the door. "Hey, Jo, you okay." 

Josie catches Hope's eye through the mirror and gives her a tight smile.

"Yeah, I'm good, just needed a second." Hope nods her head and steps closer, standing right behind Josie, but not touching her.

Their eye contact remains through the mirror is intense, Hope to try to convey something to the other girl that words can't do justice. They stay that way until Hope breaks contact, clearing her throat. 

"I'm sorry about earlier, I don't know why those three were tag-teaming to get me to ask the waitress out. I'm really not interested… in her, at least." 

Josie's heart flips in her chest, sending it beating into overdrive as they make eye contact once again. 

"You don't have to clarify anything, Hope, you can do anything you want to." She smiles tightly as the words leave her lips, not wanting to say them at all. She doesn't have any claim on Hope in any way. Their friends, nothing more. No matter how much she wants them to be something. 

The redhead nods her head and looks down, Josie can feel the disappointment Hope gives off in waves and wishes she can do anything to take it away. 

She turns, so she's facing Hope and takes a step forward, wrapping her arms around Hope's shoulders. 

"You mean so much to me." The words slip out barely above a whisper, much too honest and filled with emotions. Hope's eyes don't leave her as she leans forward and rests her forehead against Hope's. 

It's such an intimate moment, calm and serene. 

They may not be able to say what they feel for each other, but this was enough for now. 

Hope leans up carefully and places a small kiss at the tip of Josie's nose. The action makes the brunette smile and release a quiet giggle that fills the space between them. 

She leans forward, and hugs Hope tightly arms still wrapped around her shoulders. 

Hope moves her arms around the brunette's waist and hugs back just as tight. 

After a few moments of keeping their embrace, they move away from each other, smiles still present. 

"We should probably head back, they're going to send a search party soon." 

Hope's voice is teasing as she takes Josie's hand when the girl nods and lets herself be led out of the bathroom. 

Lizzie is the first to notice their return, eyes lock in on their hands interlocked together. Her lips turn to a grin, but she doesn't comment anything as the pair sits down, hands still interlocked. 

"Hey, you guys good?" Maya does seem a little concerned in her question, glancing between the two. 

Josie squeezes Hope's hand and responds. "yep, all good." 

The group continues talking and pick up conversation reasonably easily for a group that had just met not long before. 

Hope seems entirely at ease, Josie notices once again how happy she looks, it makes her smile. 

After a bit of time passes, the waitress is again back and hands out the food, Hope barely spares her a glance, instead, keeping her eyes locked onto Josie's.

She sees the waitress look at Hope and then shares a panicked glance at Maya and Lizzie. Josie has an inkling suspicion of what her sister and Maya had been plotting. Her eyes narrow as the realization dawn's on her. 

She's not sure if her suspicions are correct, but it seems as if Maya and Lizzie had wanted Hope to flirt with the waitress to bring out Josie's jealous side. Irritation remains present as she thinks about it more, already all too aware of her sister's plans to 'help' her. Right now, she can only sigh and make a mental note to talk to Lizzie about it later (Read: yell at her). 

The dinner continues with the conversation. Josie is already enjoying herself and begins to enjoy herself, even more, when Hope makes a pointed effort to look at Josie whenever the waitress comes over. The jealous side of her is delighted in the actions, pleased with how Hope looks and talks to her. 

The waitress comes back to check on them a few times, but is way less flirty now, seeming to have taken the hint. Josie can feel a sly grin take her face whenever Maya and Lizzie frown at the waitresses' lack of flirting. Josie celebrates by grinning wider at Hope.

Their hands are no longer linked together when the food arrived, as both girls needed their hands to eat, and Josie might be a little bitter about it. 

Josie is distracted by Hope and doesn't realize that Hope is distracted by her as well. The redhead has barely taken her eyes off Josie and continues to devour her with her eyes.

Hope can't help but glance down at the brunette, knowing that she's not wearing a bra and about the lace she's wearing, it overwhelms her immensely. There are questions in her mind about why Josie decided to wear something like that; a small selfish part of her wants it to be for her. She doesn't like the idea of someone else seeing Josie like that. 

She swallows hard as she looks at the material clinging to the taller girl's form and how it sways ever so slightly when she breathes, how easy it would be to unravel Josie like a gift when they are alone, preferably with a bed nearby. 

She shakes her head and takes a drink of her water, attempting to cool the fire now present in her body. 

Ethan and Maya look at her in question, she forgets how well they know her. They are all too knowing of how she flirts and how she is when she likes someone. She hasn't had many people in the past that she's reciprocated feelings for, Landon was the first person and only person she's actually dated. 

"We got kicked out eventually; the store owner was not too happy with us almost starting a fight in the middle of the mall." Hope is brought back to reality at Ethan's statement. 

She rolls her eyes and adds, "well, maybe if that asshole hadn't thought it was a good idea to not leave Maya and me alone, I wouldn't have had to deck him." Josie whips her head to look at Hope, "you're aunt was right. You really were kinda crazy when you were younger." 

The way Josie is looking at her with such a loving expression makes affection sweep through her. 

She can only shrug and smirk secretly before she can answer Ethan already jumps in.

"You've met her aunts?" he shoots Hope a look though the question was directed at Josie. "Yes, we had dinner last weekend at their house."

"Huh." is all he says, sitting back, so he is leaning against the chair. He looks between the two as if inspecting them. "Well, Josie, I can see why Hope likes you so much. She doesn't let just anyone meet her aunts."

Hope panicked a bit with how he looks at her as if he knows just how much she cares for Josie. She has barely allowed herself to understand the depths of her feelings, let alone having one of her closest friends know. She swallows hard and takes another drink while Josie smiles at Ethan once more, she glances at Hope too and lays her hand on Hope's thigh. 

"I really like her too." 

Her brain has to reboot when she hears the words leave Josie's lips. She keeps her expression the same as to not give anything away but fails when she grins wide.

Once they all finish their food, they stay around the table talking before they decide to leave. Hope pays for their food with protest from everyone at the table, but she persuades them to let her pay. 

With that being done, the waitress comes up to Hope one last time and steps far too close for Josie's liking. She can't hear what is said but is already irritated at whatever is coming out of the waitress's mouth. 

Hope appears to decline whatever the waitress asked, thankfully, because the wave of jealousy Josie once again felt died down when Hope stands next to her. 

"You guys ready to go?" 

They leave soon after with parting hugs from Maya and Ethan and a promise to do this again soon. Luckily Ethan would have a break coming up from practice and would be around more. 

Hope begins driving, Josie once again in the middle, this time she presses herself against Hope's side without prompting from Lizzie. 

When they arrive at Josie's apartment, Hope walks up with them as she usually does. 

Lizzie let herself into the apartment without waiting for Josie, already assuming she'd say goodbye to the redhead. 

Their goodbye is how the others have gone, Josie laying a sweet kiss onto Hope's cheek, far too close to her lips to be considered platonic. 

When she steps into her apartment, the brunette smiles and touches her lips as she usually does whenever they touch Hope. 

"So, Hope and that waitress seemed to really hit it off." 

She freezes, body going rigid at the comment before she looks at her sister and sends a glare. 

"What did you do?" 

Lizzie sits on her couch, legs crossed, and somehow a glass of wine already in her hand. 

"Whatever are you talking about, Josette? I haven't done anything." 

Josie can only glare further. "I know you're planning something, and I swear Lizzie if you don't stop with your ridiculous plans." 

Lizzie doesn't seem bothered in the least. "Don't worry Jo, I'm not doing anything, don't you trust me?" 

No, she did not, at least not about this. 

"Liz, can't you let whatever might be happening with Hope and I, just happen? Rather than getting involved?" 

Lizzie hums thoughtfully, taking another sip from her glass. "I don't think I will." She stands up, placing her glass down. 

"But don't you worry, Jo, I have got you covered." She wraps her arms around her sister as if that makes everything better. 

Josie was worried, whatever Lizzie planned would go awry, she would not be looking forward to whatever happened in the future. But right now, she gladly accepted her sister's arms, wrapping them around her body tighter, smiling at the embrace.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, sorry for the wait, my updates may be a bit more sporadic than they already are with school starting back up. Hope you enjoy!

Hope and Josie visit the kids at the hospital once again that week, Lucy doesn't hesitate this time hugging Hope when they arrive. 

The brunette can feel her heart clench at the sight as she hugs the other kids. Watching Hope, and being here with her makes this all the more fulfilling and better than she could imagine. 

Much like the first time, Hope sits with Lucy in her lap, she braids the long red hair as Josie reads a story to the group. 

Afterward, when they leave, Hope and Josie stay together and head to the dinner they went to the first time. She has a vague idea that it might become a tradition. Read to kids, enjoy milkshakes; she wouldn't care what she did as long as Hope was by her side. 

Hope leaves her with a kiss on the cheek, which has also become a bit of a tradition. Whenever they see each other, either Josie or Hope will lean forward and place their lips far too close on the other's cheek to be considered friendly. 

Lizzie greets her when she enters her apartment after Hope drops her off, having come straight from work. She's come to accept that her sister will appear randomly at her side and at her apartment. 

"So, how was your date?" 

Josie can't help the smile that forms on her face when she thinks about the day she's had with the bartender. 

"Not a date, but it was amazing." She plops down on the couch, placing her head in her sister's lap, letting out a content sigh. 

Without prompting, Lizzie moves her hand through Josie's long hair. 

"I'm glad, Jo." 

The response gave her a bit of pause. Usually, Lizzie would have teased her by now or said something about Hope in general. Josie opens her eyes to look at her sister, sitting up so that they face each other. 

"Is everything okay?" 

Lizzie doesn't answer right away, which brings anxiety and worry at the forefront of her mind.

"Mom called today." 

She furrows her brow in confusion, Lizzie was always ecstatic when their mother called, but right now she didn't sound happy. Their mother was extremely busy and often wouldn't call for weeks on end, and when she did was only able to talk for a little while. 

"Dad wants to see us." Lizzie continues before Josie can prompt further. 

She freezes at the words and looks away from her sister's eyes, breaking contact. 

Her relationship with her father was tense at best after Josie and Lizzie had left for college, Alaric had picked up drinking, even more than when they had lived there.

Josie blamed herself primarily for not staying at home or nearby. She figured that if her dad had someone to help him, he wouldn't have gone back to drinking. 

Alaric had always been an alcoholic, but it had been manageable when they were in high school. 

All the guilt she tried to keep at bay came crashing down on her once again. 

They hadn't actually seen their dad in over a year, and only talked to him a few times on the phone. 

The thoughts rush towards her and make her feel weighed down, Lizzie thankfully takes her in her arms and continues to brush her hair with her hand to calm her, sensing Josie's distress.

"I know how much you blame yourself for what's going on with dad, Jo, but it's not your fault. He's an adult, you shouldn't have to be responsible for taking care of him." 

She nods her head, feeling a little better, but the words not doing much to quench the self-doubt and guilt. 

Her entire life would be different if she stayed with her dad rather than going to college with Lizzie. They hadn't gone far, but far enough away that they didn't see their father except during breaks. Some of which were sent in Europe with their mom. 

Lizzie continues to stroke her hair in comfort as they stay silent for a few more minutes. 

"Not to add more bad news, but mom also wanted to tell us that she wouldn't be able to spend as much time with us for the week we were going to the lake house. Apparently, something with work came up." 

Josie can only groan and burrow further in her sister's arms. She loves the cuddling with her sister but also wishes Hope was the one hiding her, she always feels better in the redhead's arms.

Lizzie continues after she gives Josie a moment to process everything.

"She will be able to come up for a couple of days, but not the full week. She said we should invite some friends and spend the week with them." 

Disappointment does flood through her at the idea of not spending time with their mom. 

"That would be fun, I'm sure Mg would love to see the lake house again." 

Lizzie nods and pulls Josie closer. They stay like that for a few minutes, just holding each other. It's reminiscent of when they were teens and were told that their mom would be working over a holiday or miss their birthday once again—a resigned acknowledgment of the past. 

A small smirk makes way to Lizzie's mouth as she looks down at her sister. "You know, I'm pretty sure your girlfriend would love to spend time at the lake house with you." 

Josie tenses but then relaxes and rolls her eyes, shifting so she can look at the blonde. 

"Not my girlfriend, but that could actually be really fun, maybe we could invite Maya and Ethan too, it could be a group thing." 

Both sisters seem to lighten up at the idea and bounce ideas back and forth. Lizzie insists on planning the whole thing and goes forth to make preparations soon after they finish talking. Leaving Josie alone in her apartment, unsure of what to do. 

She begins to imagine what she would say to Hope to get her to the lake house for a week with a large group of people. One thing she has learned about Hope is how much she values her space; introversion runs deep with the bartender, and too many people will make her close herself off. 

Josie felt entirely flattered when Hope had told her she didn't count as 'other people' and that Hope would never get sick of her. 

She imagines the things they could do and the places Josie could show the other girl. 

The mere thought of asking the redhead, though, is what brings pause. She's reasonably sure Hope would love to go but is also unsure if she would want too. 

Anxiety runs through her, but in the end, she decides that she'll ask Hope later in the week. The next time she sees her. Hopefully, before Lizzie and Maya make another plan to get her and Hope together.

The next time she sees Hope is far sooner than she had planned. She got off work relatively late and wasn't planning on going to the bar since Hope wasn't working that night. 

It was still light out, the summer months nearing as spring began to end, giving way to hotter weather and lighter nights. 

A trip to the frozen yogurt place near her house is a must after the day she had. Mike, from marketing, really needed to get the meaning of the word 'no.' She didn't want to go on a date with him, and yet the fifth time he's asked, subtle hints and gentle letdowns were not the paths to take. 

So frozen yogurt. 

She wears her favorite zip-up jacket even with the sun out, often finding herself cold and freezing when she leaves the yogurt shop. 

She parks her car and is about to get out when she hears her name being called. It snaps her out of her thoughts as she looks up in the direction she heard it from. 

She still looks around, not seeing who called her name and feels slightly crazy as she does another look around. 

Finally, she sees red hair and a bright smile from across the parking lot. One Hope Mikaelson standing in nothing but a sports bra and leggings walking towards her. 

It's not her fault her brain short-circuited, it really isn't. How is one supposed to find out their crush has abs and not stare. Unfortunately, her mind still doesn't catch up, and her eyes stay trained on the other girl's hard muscles.

'What the hell, is that a six-pack? Is she flexing? No one just has a resting six-pack. 

She knew Hope was super fit, she just didn't realize how fit. 

"Do you want to touch them?" 

Her eyes finally snap up to blue. A sexy self-satisfied smirk present on the other girl's mouth as she stands in front of Josie amused. 

"What?" Is all she can ask dumbly. 

The smirk only grows as Josie's blush intensifies as she finally processes what Hope asked. 

She looks away, anywhere, but Hope. 

"I mean you are staring at my abs so intently, I figured you'd want to feel them." 

How was one person so stupidly attractive? It wasn't fair, her brain couldn't handle it.

Which would explain why her hand reached up halfway between her and Hope before she realized what she was doing. 

When she regained control of her body, she dropped it faster and took a step back, blushing further. 

Hope looks beyond amused and keeps her smile in place as she carefully steps forward into Josie's space and grabs the brunette's hand. Ever so slowly, she places the hand on her stomach. 

She is definitely flexing. The skin is smooth with an underlying hardness from the muscles Hope clearly had. Feeling then was even better than seeing them. If that was even possible. 

She allows herself to admire the texture for a few more seconds before pulling away. Hope was definitely flexing. 

"What are you doing here?" 

She tries to distract Hope with the question, still feeling the heat on her cheeks. Her eyes are stealing glances at the partially clothed girl in front of her, unable to fully look away. 

She's probably being as subtle as her sister when she is plotting something, but Hope seems to thrive on Josie's attention.

Hope does answer the question, but not before letting Josie continue staring for a few more seconds. 

"I was working out at the gym." She throws her hand in a vague gesture behind her, Josie doesn't even bother to look away from Hope. She calmed down a little once the shock at seeing the redhead had worn off. She's not openly ogling her friend, now only partially ogling. 

The light sheen of sweat makes Hope look shiny, and Josie can almost imagine licking the sweat off each part of the redhead's stomach. When the thought hits her, she immediately blushes and looks away, unable to meet Hope's eyes. 

That was not an appropriate thought to have for a friend. Especially not when they were standing in front of you, and you were openly staring at them. 

Finally, what feels like an eternity, Josie looks up and finds Hope already watching her. 

She swallows the saliva that had formed since seeing Hope and clears her throat. "I had a craving for frozen yogurt." She also makes a vague gesture to the building. Hope doesn't look away from her but is observing her with an almost predatory look. 

"Would you want to get some with me? I know you just worked out, and that kind of defeats the entire purpose of working out, but if you think about it, it's healthier than ice cream." Ah, there's the rambling side of her brain, never failing her when she has to talk to a pretty girl. 

Hope meets her eyes amusement present. "I'd love too." she offers her hand for Josie to take, intertwining their fingers together. 

They walk into the shop together and are greeted by cool air and the lone worker at the counter.

They quickly get their yogurt adding the toppings they desired and went to pay. Josie refused to let Hope pay and bought both of theirs. 

They sit down at a table away from the door and begin to munch down on their yogurt, Josie making a happy noise of content with her first bite. 

They don't talk much while they eat, mostly stealing glances when they think the other isn't looking. Josie takes a bite and remembers she needed to ask Hope about the lake house. When she remembers, it was as if all the anxieties from before came back. 

She felt her stomach churn at the thought of rejection and feels foolish because of it. She wasn't even asking Hope on a date. 

Hope seems to notice something in Josie's demeanor changes because she reaches her hand forward and gently grips Josie's arm, stroking her thumb over the skin comfortingly. 

Before Hope can ask if Josie is okay, a jet of cold air touches her skin once again from the store's air condition that blows right onto them. Hope being only partially clothed unleashes an uncontrollable shiver that catches the brunette's attention. 

"Are you cold?" there's a definite worry in Josie's voice, Hope is about to deny it, despite the fact that she's freezing, and another uncontrollable shiver runs through her body. 

"no, I'm fine."

Josie gives her a pointed look before standing up and slipping off her zip up. She wraps it over Hope's arms and practically forces the redhead to put it on. She even reaches forward and zips it up.

Hope is grateful for the warmth and buries her hands in the sleaves. The jacket smells like Josie, a mix of vanilla and something that is purely Josie. Her eyes close as she takes a deep breath in of the jacket. 

She opens them again when she hears a giggle from across from her. Josie is looking at her with so much joy in her eyes, a hand held to her lips. Now that Josie isn't wearing a jacket, Hope can clearly see the yellow form-fitting shirt the brunette is wearing and takes a moment to appreciate the view. 

"Not cold, huh?" 

Hope can only roll her eyes, lean forward, and smack Josie with the excess sleaves, delighting in the laugh she causes. 

They finish with their yogurt soon after, the question Josie was going to ask Hope long forgotten as the brunette offers to give Hope a ride back to the bar.

When they get there, Josie insists on walking Hope to the breakroom. Saying hi and goodbye to Maya and kisses Hope's cheek as she leaves.

Maya looks at Hope as she watches the brunette leave. She's wearing a dumb, goofy expression that she often wears whenever the taller girl is present. She honestly doesn't know how Josie doesn't see how Hope looks at her. She must be blind, oblivious, or both. Maya thinks it must be both. Lizzie had been crystal clear on how Josie wasn't sure when someone was flirting with her until they asked for her number or if she had a boyfriend. 

The redhead's hand reaches up and touches her cheek, Maya makes some gagging noises snapping Hope out of her Josie filled daydream. 

"What was that supposed to be?" The smile from before vanishes as if Hope had forgotten the Latina was still there. "It was me gagging at how you two are literally dating but refuse to label it or talk about your feelings. Seriously Hope, you're whipped." 

The redhead scoffs at that, "I am not whipped. And Josie and I are just friends." 

Maya narrows her eyes and gets closer to Hope. "Oh, I see, so if you and Josie are just friends like we're just friends, then where are my cheek kisses?" Hope narrows her eyes as well at the apparent teasing. 

"Whatever Maya, that didn't mean anything. Josie is just a touchy person, I'm sure she does that with all her friends." 

Another scoff. "Right, she kisses all her friends cheeks, seriously Hope, are you just oblivious or that in denial?" Outrage crosses Hope's features for a second before her mask is brought back up. Unfortunately for Hope, Maya has had years to figure out every look Hope makes and can read her like a book. 

"I am not in denial. Or oblivious. I'm very aware of things." 

"Right. The fact that I think you believe yourself when you say that scares me. Why don't you ask her out? She's not going to say no to you." 

Hope gets quiet, her mouth tipping down to a frown. "Do you think she'd really say yes?" The question is said quietly and brings Maya back to a time not too long ago when Hope had all but sworn herself off love. Maya places a hand onto her friend's shoulder and squeezes. 

"Hope I don't think you realize this but you're a solid catch. Like ten out of ten, not only are you hot, but you're kind and caring. You're also hot, did I say that already?" 

That does get Hope to laugh as she smacks Maya's arm. She bites her lip and is silent again with contemplation clear on her face. 

"What if she ends up being like Landon…" she trails off as a frown takes over at the mere thought of Josie betraying her as Landon had.

"Landon was an asshole who couldn't make up his mind on what he wanted. He kept leaving you. He made his choice, but you and Josie can make your own. She feels different than Landon, she's not him." 

Maya pulls away, not before squeezing Hope's shoulder one last time. "Do whatever you think is best, I want you to be happy. If Josie makes you happy, I will help you in any way I can. But you have to stop comparing all your relationships to Landon, he kept leaving you, he didn't deserve you. I think she might." With that said, Maya begins to leave the room, leaving Hope to reflect.

Before Maya can entirely leave, she remembers what Lizzie had told her not too long ago. 

"If you're really unsure if she feels the same, you could always try to make her jealous." she looks back at Hope, who's scowling at the ground. 

"How is that supposed to help me?"

Maya hides away from Hope, so she doesn't see the mischief in her eyes. Maya may know all of Hope's tells from the years they spent together, but that also meant Hope knew hers. Especially when she was playing matchmaker.

"All you'd have to do is flirt with someone else in front of her and see if she reacts. If she does seem jealous, then that'll give you your answer." Hope is silent, worrying her lip between her teeth. "Do you think that will work? Making her jealous? she didn't seem to be happy at the restaurant when the waitress kept hitting on me..." 

Maya steps further into the room towards Hope, already knowing she's hooked her friend in. 

"That's how you know this will work. she didn't like it when someone else was flirting with you, imagine how she'll act if you flirt back."

Hope looks up and watches Maya intently, though her eyes are staring at her friend, she's deep in thought. 

"Okay. I'll make her jealous."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maya just lit the fuse, Josie may blow up


	12. Chapter 12

There are not many times Josie goes to the bar without her sister present; this is one of those times. However, even when she does come with her, she loses Lizzie in the crowd within the first five minutes. Granted, she is usually talking with Hope and isn't really looking for her sister. 

She's pretty sure Lizzie is plotting something and was trying to throw her off the trail by putting the operation on hold. Either that or her sister was planning something big next. A flash mob maybe that made it seem like she was confessing her undying love for Hope. She wouldn't put it past her sister. 

Whatever is coming can wait, because currently, she has a new dilemma to worry about. 

Over the last few times she's seen Hope, she hasn't been able to ask her to come to the lake house. It felt too intimate. Rationally, Josie knew that it wasn't going to be a week-long date, but her brain also made her think of every version of bad outcomes when she asked Hope. 

Her mind has currently come up with Hope saying "no" to "I never want to speak to you again." She might be a tad dramatic in her overthinking. 

Even the past few times she's been with Hope have felt this awkward tension that won't go away. Not the fun kind of tension that usually follows their interactions, but a soul-sucking kind that lingers like a bad cough.

Here she is stuck in a forever loop of trying to ask Hope and Maya's knowing looks. Her and Lizzie becoming friends was the absolute worst. 

Yes, that also might be an overdramatic estimation, but she's tired and lonely and just wants a hug from Hope. The redhead is currently wiping down the counters and organizing the glasses. She looks a little tired, making Josie wish to go over and ask if she has been sleeping enough or drinking enough water. 

She looks away for a split second down at her drink. Her head shoots up at the noise, looking up and seeing Hope on the floor, glass around her. Josie is up in a second, and by Hope's side, she is mostly calm until she sees red all over Hope's palm. 

"Hope! Oh gosh. Are you okay?!" Josie rushes over to where the bartender is crouched over a wince of pain present on her face. She's clutching her hand to her chest. 

The blood makes Josie slightly queasy, but powers through to help Hope up and takes her to the bathroom. She grabs the first aid kit she's seen in the kitchen the past few weeks and walks in after Hope. 

"Josie, I'm fine, I promise, you don't have to worry about me, okay?" as Hope says this, she's still visibly in pain, clutching her hand to her chest like a wounded animal. 

"You may be all badass and fine, but you're hurt. Let me take care of you." Hope relents and gives Josie her hand to inspect. She winces as the taller girl takes the glass that had gotten stuck and begins to wash the wound. 

Red runs down the sink, turning from dark red to a light pink as the blood slowly begins to thin. Grabbing gauze out of the first aid kit, Josie also holds paper towels to dry the wound. Wrapping a few layers of gauze, Josie doesn't allow her concentration to be broken. She can feel Hope stare at her as she works; it's a little disconcerting how intense Hope's gaze is. 

It makes her feel so many emotions that she couldn't even begin to describe them all. When Josie had carefully wrapped Hope's hand up, she doesn't let it go yet, holding it gently but firmly. 

"How does that feel?" 

"A lot better, thank you." 

Josie smiles and doesn't take her eyes off Hope as she leans down and places a sweet and tender kiss at the center of her palm. Right where the wound is. Hope doesn't think anyone has ever cared for her this much or been this kind to her. 

She swallows hard at the action, wishing they could stay in this little bubble, rather than going back to the real world. Everything is always easier with Josie, from her smile to her laugh, it helps Hope feel alive. 

"Hope?" Josie's voice is quieter as if she doesn't want to break the small space they've built. 

Hope meets brown eyes and watches intensely, "Ya, Jo?"

"Is everything alright with you?" 

Hope is a little shocked at the question; she had thought she had been doing a good job at keeping everything hidden. She should have suspected that Josie would be able to read her. The girl was almost too perceptive for her own good. Hope had always been able to hide how she felt from others and shut herself off from the world, so outsiders didn't know how she felt and couldn't use that against her. But Josie was no outsider and was beginning to become one of her closest friends. 

If she were honest with Josie, she would say her talk with Maya had rattled her more than she let on. Maya suggesting she make Josie jealous did nothing but make her more anxious than she already was. The mere thought of flirting with someone else and acting as if she wanted them while Josie watched made her hesitate in the plan.

But telling any of that to the other girl was not an option. How do you tell someone you like them and want to date them so much that their friend devised a plan to make that person jealous? 

"Ya Jo, I'm fine, I promise." she gives a smile that she hopes is comforting but knows it's probably more a grimace. Josie sees right through her if the skeptical look she gives is anything to go by. 

"I'm here if you need me or want to talk."

She hates this awkward tension following them for the past week. She knows that she is the cause. She lets her insecurities and worries affect her relationship with Josie, and she doesn't understand how to stop it. 

They stay like that for a few more moments, before Josie places one more soft kiss on the palm of her hand and steps away. 

Her heart clenches at Josie's actions, she begins to wonder how the other girl has captured her heart so fully and cares for her without expecting anything in return. 

Maya's plan has to work. It may work in some roundabout way, but it has to work. Hope wants Josie to want her the same way; she's more than terrified that she's not enough for the brunette and that she won't be enough. She has to push past that and focus on the plan, and maybe then she and Josie can be together. 

They leave the bathroom soon after the last palm kiss, and Josie makes her way out of the bar. Hope almost calls out to Josie and then tells her how she feels, but her own fears stop her. Josie looks at Hope one last time before walking out the door with a small wave.

It takes Hope a few seconds to realize that Josie didn't kiss her cheek as a goodbye.

Lizzie drags her to the bar once again on a Friday night. While Josie enjoyed going as early as possible for no crowd, her sister thrived off the activity and always made them go later in the night. 

Her sister had made herself scarce early on and left Josie to her own devices. 

Rafael and Mg had also joined them but had been mulling around; Josie had only caught a small glance of Rafael as he got a drink from the bar. 

When Josie arrived, her eyes were already looking for Hope. When they find the redhead, she makes eye contact with her and smiles wide as she usually does. 

Hope smiles at her, but it is tense and not like the usual look Josie gets from Hope, it's worrying. 

As Josie makes her way over, for the first time, Hope doesn't get her a drink because there's someone else Hope is talking too, another girl that is leaning closer. If Josie didn't know better, it would look like the two girls were flirting with each other. 

A shot of jealousy reaches her stomach and makes her want to waltz over to Hope and kiss her hard. She stops herself from the thought. Hope wasn't hers to claim. 

Jeremy, another bartender, gets her a drink, an Italian soda she's come to love from the bar, and sits down at a table on the side. One that had a full view of the bar and the two women flirting with one another.

Josie wonders if Maya is working today and figures she might be in the back. She only has a momentary focus on Maya as her eyes land on Hope and the other girl once again.

Josie watches the interaction with eagle eyes, a glare present, and a pout on her lip. This shouldn't bother her. It doesn't bother her. So what if some hot brunette is all over Hope. So what if Hope is flirting back.

She should have expected it sooner. Hope was beyond hot. Super sexy, cute, perfect, adorable, and any other adjectives that Josie's jealous mind couldn't think if. 

It's honestly a wonder that Josie either wasn't present or aware of when someone flirted with Hope. Here she was watching this brunette lean closer to Hope, giving her heart eyes. 

She could handle this. So what if she felt jealousy eat away at her stomach and can feel the terrible bile crawl up her throat. It means nothing. She's fine. Totally fine. 

She nibbles on her straw and glares harder when the girl touches Hope's biceps. She could hear the conversation practically, 'oh, you work out?' Her mind mocks in a high pitch voice in her head. 

She nearly growls when Hope leans closer to the girl and whispers something in her ear. The mocking voice is back this time deeper to imitate the bartender's voice 'yeah, I do. If you come to my room, I can show you----' her mocking train of thought is interrupted by Rafael trying to get her attention. 

"Hey, Jo, you alright?" Her tall friend sits down across from her, a bit of worry in his eyes. 

Her eyes finally focus on him as she sits up straighter. "Ya, I'm fine, what's up?"

"You sure? You seem a little… irritated." He's hesitant in his wording and slow to say it. Josie doesn't blink before reassuring him. 

"Trust me, everything's all good." 

Though everything is evidently not all good, Rafael takes her words at face value and doesn't question her further.

"So, Lizzie told me about the lake house and invited me." Josie nods for him to continue, slightly confused. Her anger dissipates a little bit, but not quite all the way. 

She tries to focus on what Raf says, then the loud laugh she sees the brunette make when her head is thrown back. 

'Gosh, what a bitch.'

That thought startles her momentarily, she was only mad because that girl was laughing at Hope like that instead of her. 

Every time she looks up, it almost seems as if Hope is looking in her direction, but Josie rationalizes that can't be right. Especially when she has a hot girl in front of her to entertain her. There was no way Hope was looking for her.

"So one of my best mates is moving back down, he has a fiancee, and I wanted to know if I could invite them. He's amazing, and I haven't met his fiancee yet, but I'm sure she's great. Would it be okay with you if they came?" 

Josie hears words like water flowing through her ears. Hope is the one now to throw her head back laughing; she can almost make out the sound from here. 

Her attention moves back to Raf, the final word processing. "Yes, Raf, of course, let me check with Lizzie, but the more, the merrier. The lake is always more fun with a bunch of people. I'll ask her later and let you know, but it's a yes for me." 

He smiles that wide smile that she had fallen for so long ago. He seemed relieved and grateful and told her over again. 

After that, they stay talking for a few minutes, she tries to distract herself away from Hope with the conversation. 

Rafael, after a few more minutes, gets up and is going to dance a bit and wander around. She waves goodbye as he heads off. 

With nothing to distract herself, she sips on her drink some more. Only ice is left, but she really didn't want to go over to the bar and have her vision assaulted even more with Hope flirting with someone that wasn't her. 

She's not jealous. She has no right to be jealous. She has some distinct feeling that she would have made the brunette bleed if she had magical powers. 

Lizzie comes over, and all she feels is relief at the possible distraction. "Lizzie, Raf wanted to know if he could invite a friend and his friend's fiancee to the lake."

Lizzie hums, but her gaze doesn't look toward Josie, rather the bar where her sister had been glaring most of the night. 

"That's fine. The more, the better. Speaking of, have you worked up the balls to ask Hope?" Josie can only splutter as embarrassment floods through her. She calms down after a few seconds with a glance back at Hope and the girl. 

"I haven't gotten the chance. I was going to tonight, but she seems preoccupied." There's a definitive bitterness that takes over her words. She bites her straw again, even with nothing left in her drink, it gives her something to do. 

Lizzie watches her out of the corner of her eye, carefully analyzing Josie's reaction. 

"Your girl is flirting with some no-name, why aren't you over there staking your claim?" 

Josie can only slump in her seat, feeling broken and a little pathetic. "I don't have a claim to stake." 

Lizzie's head whips back over towards her sister and is watching her more intently. 

"I don't get it, Jo, when Penelope was getting flirted with, you practically shoved your tongue down her throat and mauled her neck. Warding off anyone who might try anything. I swear she got off on making you jealous."

Josie glances at Lizzie, who is trying to appear uninterested before her gaze returns to the bar. If Josie was in her right mind, she'd have seen right through her sister's tactics. 

"That was different. Penelope was my girlfriend, I was allowed to be jealous. With Hope… as much as I want us to be more, we're just friends. And it seems like that's all we'll ever be." The taller girl sighs before standing up; the anger had left her feeling sad and wanting to mope.

Lizzie watches her stand a slight panic in her eyes. Josie pays her sister no mind as she pushes her chair in. "I think I'm going to head home, Liz. I'm really not in the partying mood." 

"Jo, you can't just leave!" Lizzie is sputtering now, trying to catch up to her sister, who is walking towards the door. 

If Josie had been thinking clearly, she'd have noticed how frazzled Lizzie seemed. However, her mind was preoccupied with sadness and anger and far too sober to deal with it.

"Sorry, Lizzie. We'll go out later this week… maybe to a different bar." 

"Josie! Dance with me! Let's go to the dance floor!" The blonde Saltzman drags her sister by the arm towards the makeshift dance floor. Josie can only sigh and groan as she follows along. 

"Only for a couple songs, okay? I'm leaving after that." She gives one more pitiful glance towards the bar before she starts to dance. 

Maybe grinding against the first girl who approached her and started dancing on her was not the smartest thing she could do. At least her sober self was consistent with her drunk self. 

At this point, what else was she supposed to do? Hope obviously was having a good time, and there was nothing Josie could do about it. No matter how much she hated it. 

With the girl distracting her, she didn't notice her sister leaving the first chance she got, practically running towards the bar. 

Lizzie, when she gets to the bar, she basically pushes the girl flirting with Hope out of her seat. "Urgent business, go try it with someone else." 

The girl gives her a dirty look glancing at Hope to see if she'll do something. The bartender is looking at Lizzie with a wave of confusion. She sends an apologetic look towards the brunette before turning her attention back to Lizzie.

"What's going on, Lizzie? What's so urgent that you practically pushed the girl away from me?" Hope does seem a little annoyed, but now that she's not paying attention to the brunette, she looks up for Josie. 

"Per the norm, the plan is going off the rails. Now listen close, lover girl, my sister, thinks you're not interested and is just about ready to leave here thinking you don't want her. So you better find her and make it right." 

Hope's eyes widen as she takes in what Lizzie says. "I thought I was doing that! Maya said I needed to make her jealous." Hope looks hurt as her eyes dart up, searching for Josie. 

"Well, it obviously didn't work. You need to go to her and make it right. Otherwise, she's going to think you just friend-zoned her for another brunette!" Lizzie practically scolds Hope as if the entire thing wasn't her plan.

Hope swallows hard and nods her head before catapulting herself over the bar and landing next to Lizzie. 

It was all a tad too dramatic for Lizzie's taste, but who was she to judge? 

"Where is she? I can't see her." Lizzie looks towards the dance floor where she had left Josie last but can't see her sister anywhere. The girl she had been dancing with left alone. 

"I think I see her!" A wave of brunette hair walking out the door is the only thing Hope has to go off of as she is shuffling as fast as she can through the room towards the door. 

Maya comes over to where Lizzie is looking a little worried. "I heard what you said to Hope before; I thought making Josie jealous would work?" 

Lizzie looks solemnly towards the door that Hope just ran out of, unwilling to admit she may have been wrong and could only shrug.

The redhead runs out the door of her bar, a slight drizzle making its way through the air. 

Her eyes squint as they look frantically around. After a few seconds, her eyes land on just the person she needs to see, and her voice calls for her before she can think. 

"Josie!" 

She doesn't stop there, running forward as the taller girl comes to a stop but doesn't turn around. 

They're not far from the bar's entrance just down the street where the building can be seen in Hope's peripheral vision. 

Josie turns around and paints an obviously fake smile on her lips. "Hey, Hope, what are you doing here? You seemed preoccupied when I left." 

Hope opens her mouth, but no words come out. She's never seen Josie like this. The words seem friendly enough, but there's a passive-aggressive bite behind them.

The rain is coming down harder now; Hope can feel the drops coating her skin.

"I saw you leaving, I wanted to check up on you." That's not exactly what she wanted to say, but it was a start. 

"No, don't worry about me, go back to your other girl. She seemed fun. Wouldn't want to distract you." 

The brunette once again turns away from Hope and starts to walk away. 

"Josie, please." Hope trails after the other girl and places a hand on her arm gently. The brunette comes to a stop but doesn't turn to face the other girl. 

"Please, what Hope? I told you before at the restaurant that you can do whatever you want. You don't have to explain things to me. If you want to be with that other girl, you should be with her." 

"I promise you that didn't mean anything."

Josie, let's out a scoff that has Hope recoiling. The taller girl flips around and faces Hope with a fury deep within her eyes. 

"So what? Are you just in the process of toying with people? Just wanted to flirt with her for a while before you got bored?" 

"No! Of course not!" Hope takes a step back at the heat of the words, Josie takes a step forward.

"Then what, Hope? Why are you here when you could be in there with someone who obviously wants you?" 

"Because she's not you!" 

Once the words are out in the open, Josie seems shocked, her anger dissipates off her face as she looks at Hope with wide doe eyes.

The next few seconds are quiet before Hope continues. 

"She's not you. I was flirting with her because Maya had this stupid plan for me to make you jealous." 

She once again pauses, swallowing hard. "And the reason why Maya had come up with that stupid plan is because I was scared." 

Hope's squeezing her eyes shut tightly now, not wanting to see Josie's expression, as if preparing for the inevitable heartbreak. 

Josie steps closer and rests her hands on either side of Hope's cheeks. 

"What were you scared of?" Josie is quiet when she speaks, all traces of her past anger gone, replaced with a soft adoration.

Hope's eyes flutter open to meet Josie's. The rain falls steadily around them, not pouring but enough that both girls are sufficiently soaked. 

The streetlights are on making a halo glow around Josie's head as Hope looks up to her. All she can think about is the hopeful look on Josie's face and angelic features. 

"I was scared that you wouldn't feel the same about me as I feel about you." 

With the words finally out in the air, both girls could breathe once again. Josie steps closer so that her entire body is almost pressed fully into the bartender, and keeps her hands on Hope's cheeks. 

"Of course I feel the same about you, who wouldn't?" 

Hope is giving her the softest smile with nothing but love in her eyes. 

And finally, after weeks upon weeks of pining and desperation, their lips meet each other in the middle, a pull so strong that it was inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally kiss!!
> 
> #hosierainkiss
> 
> =D 
> 
> Did you guys like it? let me know what you think!!


	13. Chapter 13

The kiss stays as just a touch for a few seconds before Josie is leaning in further. They move in sync and continue to be unaware of the world surrounding them. 

Hope presses her hands against Josie's hips and pulls them that much closer. Everything about this moment felt perfect; even the uncertainty they had experienced before their lips met made this moment all the more fulfilling.

Josie bites on Hope's bottom lip as her tongue comes out to soothe the bite, she revels in the low groan Hope makes. 

Hope pulls away but leans her forehead on Josie's; both are breathless and panting into the other's mouth. 

The rain around them has soaked their skin and clothes, but all Hope can think about is how beautiful Josie is with the rain in her hair. 

"Do you want to come back to my room?" 

The redhead asks, breaking the silence that had formed around them after their kiss.

Josie's eyes widen, and her mouth hangs open while a blush deepens across her face. "Not like that! I meant to talk!" 

Hope is now blushing as much as Josie. Both girls look away from each other for a moment than meet their eyes once more. 

"I'd love to Hope, maybe I could borrow some clothes, pretty sure mine are completely soaked."

Hope nods her head and grabs Josie's hand, leading her back to the bar. The bartender takes Josie through a back door that she has never been through before. Both continue and walk up the stairs to Hope's apartment, avoiding anyone around. 

The stairs are dark and quiet, the sounds of their footsteps echoing off the walls. Their hands are still intertwined as Hope opens the door, she brings up Josie's hand to kiss the back of it. Her lips linger as their eyes meet, creating a moment of tension. 

The apartment is dark when they walk in, so Hope flicks the lights on and heads straight for her room, with Josie following after. If this had been any other person, the whole thing would have felt like a hookup, as if she was taking Josie to bed. 

Before, when the girls had been alone, they had often shared shy smiles and hidden looks. Now they are doing the same thing but with more meaning and feelings. A thrill runs through Josie at knowing Hope at least fills something for her, even if she is unsure what.

When they get to her room, Hope rummages through her clothes to give Josie something that would fit her. Since the brunette was much taller than her, the clothes would be a little small. She finally found a shirt that would work for the other girl and then search for some shorts. 

Her quest for shorts is complete when she pulls them out victoriously, holding the clothes out to Josie like a trophy. The brunette begins to laugh at Hope's antics. 

"You're such a dork." The smile Hope wears only grows as she gets closer to Josie. 

"A sexy dork, though. We established this." 

Josie rolls her eyes and pokes Hope in the stomach gently. Ever since she saw Hope shirtless, she had looked for every excuse to touch Hope's abs. This is especially true when they've been alone, and Josie could get away with the touches without Maya and her sister's prying eyes. 

"Whatever you say, little miss sexy dork," Josie says as she takes the offered clothes. 

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" Hope's nodding her head, and Josie soon heads to the bathroom. 

Both girls let out a deep sigh as they are now alone. Josie starts the water and takes off her wet clothes before stepping in. The hot water on her skin helps her calm her racing heart as she thinks about the kiss she and Hope had not twenty minutes ago. 

When Josie comes out of the shower, her hair is wet and up in a towel. Hope watches her go out of the bathroom with a smile on her face. 

"Hey," Josie says as she steps closer to where Hope sits on her bed. 

The bartender doesn't answer at first but hums appreciatively at seeing the brunette in her clothes. 

"You look good in my clothes." Hope's eyes trail all over Josie's body before their eyes meet. The taller girl has a tiny blush on her cheeks that could easily be mistaken from the hot shower she just took. 

Josie steps forward even further into Hope's space. "Do you know what I'd look even better in?" 

She doesn't give Hope a chance to answer before leaning forward to place her lips just under Hope's ears. "Your leather jacket." 

Though the words are not suggestive, though the way Josie says them makes Hope flush. She clears her throat and steps back when Josie bites her lip, trying to contain herself. 

"I'm going to take a shower." 

She makes a vague gesture towards where the bathroom is and steps in to close the door. Josie finally lets herself smile, full of pride at being cake to fluster the redhead. 

Hope has to come back a moment later, having forgotten clothes in her escape attempt. 

After her shower, both girls lay on the bed, Josie clings to Hope's side further as they lay intertwined in bed. She enjoys the touch and comforts the redhead brings as her head lays on Hope's chest. 

Everything fell into place so perfectly, her heart swells with love and adoration, remembering the kisses they've been sharing. 

Both girls are lost deep in thought and on the verge of unconsciousness. They haven't talked much other than before their kiss and need to discuss what this means for them. 

Josie sits up slowly but still stays close to Hope, not wanting to be further away from the redhead. 

"Hey," Hope gives her a lazy smile and pulls Josie down, so their lips meet in a slow and gentle kiss. 

It felt like coming home. 

Josie's the first to pull away and delights when Hope chases after her lips. 

"Hope, we need to talk." She should have worded that differently because Hope's eyes widen as she sits up fully alert now. 

"Is everything alright? What did you want to talk about?" Josie tilts her head forward and kisses the bartender as passionately as she can, delighting in the moan she brings from Hope's throat as she swipes her tongue on her bottom lip. 

She pulls away but keeps their foreheads close together, breathless from the kiss, almost panting into each other's mouths. 

"Nothing bad. I just want to talk about us…" Josie trails off, feeling nervous all of a sudden. 

"I want you to know that I really like you. And if you want to, I would like to see where this goes." 

Hope gives her a dazzling smile and bites her lip; Josie's eyes follow the motion and yearns to press their lips together once more. She refrains and waits for the redhead to answer. 

"I really like you too, I would love to see where this goes, Josie. Just to be clear, you have a crush on me?" Hope has her dopey grin on her face with an air of smugness as she sees the blush rise on Josie's cheeks. 

"Of course I do, you jerk. I won't if you keep being mean to me." Josie pulls out her pout and watches as Hope succumbs to her doe eyes right in front of her. 

Arms circle around her waist as she's pulled closer to Hope. In a quick move that she wasn't expecting, the redhead pulls Josie on top of her, forcing the brunette to straddle Hope as she sits on her lap. 

Hope laughs at the squeak the girl on top of her makes at the sudden movement. She leans close to the girl's ear and begins to whisper. "Oh, but you like it when I tease you." 

Josie flushes further at that and looks anywhere but in Hope's eyes. She has the sudden urge to kiss Hope's smirk off of her face and realizes she can do just that.

She leans forward and captures the redhead's lips with her own, effectively taking off the smugness that Hope held. 

She enjoys the low moan that leaves Hope's throat and wants to bring that noise out again. 

They stay kissing like that for a few more seconds before Hope pulls away this time. She changes their position, so they are laying down on the bed cuddled close together. 

Josie has her head on Hope's chest, a sort of calm washes over them. Their peacefulness is broken when the brunette releases a loud groan of despair. 

Before Hope can ask what's wrong, Josie already starts to speak. 

"My sister's plan worked!"

Hope gives her a puzzled expression and urges her to continue explaining. 

"My sister has always had these stupid plans to hook me up with whoever I like. It always has worked out horribly in the past, and yet she still does it. She's going to be so smug once she finds out that her and Maya's plan actually worked."

She groans again and buries her face into hope's neck, a pout firmly on her lips. The pout deepens when she can feel the soft rumbles from the girl under her. 

"Why are you laughing! They're going to be even more insufferable now." 

The pout doesn't go away, so Hope sits up to look at Josie more fully. 

"We could always not tell them." 

Josie regards Hope carefully, unsure of how she feels. "What do you mean we don't tell them?" 

"We don't have to tell them anything, we can just continue as if we're only friends. This could get back at them a bit for their stupid plans. Only for a little while, maybe we can mess with them a bit, like revenge." 

Josie's quiet before her lips tug up into a smirk. "Lizzie would kill me." There's a defiant look in Josie's eyes that doesn't go away. It lingers as she and Hope begin to work out exactly how they're going to get revenge.

After they talked about the plan, they switched to talking and laughing about anything and everything. In the quiet of the night with just the two of them, everything felt calm. 

Cuddling is a must after the day they both had. Now warm from their showers and dry clothes, Josie succumbs to her touchy nature and clings to Hope's side. That's how they remain for the remainder of the night. 

The next morning Hope cooks Josie breakfast again, and they stay dancing in the kitchen, much like the first time they spent the morning together. 

Hope tries to get the plates down from the top shelf but can't quite reach them. The taller girl enjoys watching, the shorter girl struggle standing on her tiptoes stretched out. 

Josie begins to laugh before stepping up behind Hope and reaches up to grab the plates. Their bodies are pushed together for a fraction of a second as she holds the plates and then steps away. 

"Quit laughing at me. Maya puts them on the top shelf just to spite me." The pout on Hope's lips is absolutely adorable, causing Josie to laugh even more before pulling the pouting girl into a hug.

Hope continues making their food and is almost finished, giving Josie enough time to check her phone. She soon realizes she has multiple missed texts from Lizzie. Her and Hope had gotten caught up in each other that she had forgotten to even look at her phone the night before. 

Lizzie: Josie? Did everything go, okay?   
8:29

Lizzie: I'm assuming since you're not answering, everything went okay?   
8:37

Lizzie: Josie! You better be getting laid if you're not answering me!  
8:39

Lizzie: Maya just said Hope's not answering 👀  
8:41

Lizzie: we're having a sister's night tomorrow. You are going to tell me EVERYTHING.   
8:43

Lizzie: The sex had better be amazing since you're leaving me in suspense.   
8:57

Josie groans at her sister's texts, Her and Hope's plan had seemed perfect last night, now in the light of day, the actual job of lying to her sister seemed impossible.

Lizzie had always had this uncanny ability to still know when Josie wasn't telling the truth. She'd always catch her in a lie seemingly just by looking at Josie's probably guilty expression. 

Granted, Josie was about as bad as lying as she was at flirting. There were very few times in her life she could remember getting away with lying to Lizzie and not getting caught. The couple times she did, the guilt ate away at her until she confessed moments later in tears. 

Don't judge her; she was a sensitive kid. 

That's a problem for her future self to deal with, which she will have to deal with later tonight. She chooses to ignore Lizzie's texts and shuts off her phone, turning her attention to Hope, who has just finished their breakfast. 

It's later in the day by the time Josie even begins to leave. Hope walks the brunette down the stairs, and before they are visible by anyone else, Josie lays a sweet kiss onto Hope's lips. 

They emerge into the bar where there are not many people around; it's not full yet as it is still early. 

She had driven last night, so there is no reason for Hope to take her home, cutting their goodbye shorter than the girls would have liked. Even after spending the night together and most of the day, Josie finds herself wanting to stay in Hope's arms. 

She cringes at the thought, she and Hope are not even dating, and she's already thinking of cliches that they can do together. Maybe walking down the beach holding hands. Or even kissing under the stars and moonlight. 

Lizzie would never let her live this down if she knew how much of a hopeless romantic she was being. 

At that thought, her eyes widened. She was going to have to go home and talk to Lizzie, her sister, who very much probably would catch her in the lie and would ruin all Hope's and her attempt at revenge. Curse her pouty lips and expressive eyes. 

Hope must sense her panic because she's quick to bring Josie into a hug. "You okay? what's going on in your mind right now?" At the low gravel of Hope's voice, her mind scatters to the warmth of being so close to Hope.

'I could be held by you forever.'

Josie should not be held liable for what her brain comes up with. She is being held in Hope's arms and has her face buried in the redhead's neck. She burrows further, unwilling to let Hope see her darkened cheeks. 

"It's nothing, I'll be fine." 

Hope hums before bringing her hand up to massage the back of Josie's neck, surprising the taller girl into releasing a short moan. Her face heats up further at the bartender's chuckle. 

Josie pulls away after a few more moments of enjoying Hope before they finally say goodbye. She gets into her car and drives towards her apartment with Hope fading out into the background. 

She walks into her apartment and looks around; Lizzie is nowhere to be found. She does a quick look towards the kitchen, her sister having a tendency to steal all of her food whenever she was over or her wine. 

Seeing her sister not there yet, she changes and gets comfortable, unsure when Lizzie would make her way to her apartment. 

Her phone lights up with Lizzie's name, and Josie takes a deep breath before answering. 

"Hey, Liz---"

"YOU AND HOPE ARE NOT DATING1?!?!" 

She has to pull the phone away from her ear with the loud screeching that occurs. 

Josie opens her mouth to answer but is cut off once again. "I just got off the phone with Maya, and she just got done talking with Hope, and APPARENTLY, you guys did nothing but cuddle last night?!" 

"It was all---" 

"Do you have any idea the amount of meticulous timing and planning it has taken to get you and hot leather jacket together? We set it up perfectly for you two to get together, and you didn't even kiss?!" 

"Lizzie! You do realize I never asked for you and Maya to get involved with my love life. Actually, I'm pretty sure I did the exact opposite." Finally, Josie can get a word out before Lizzie begins to rant again, ignoring Josie's words. 

"All of it was set up perfectly! It was raining out and everything; you both could have confessed your love with the rain falling around you! How could you get any gayer than with a rain kiss!?" 

Josie feels a small amount of guilt creep up in her throat at her sister's words. She would love to gush about the kiss but honestly is still miffed at Lizzie's constant need to control her love life. 

At this point, Lizzie continues her rant while still making her way to Josie's apartment. She fears for those who have to drive on the road with her sister right now, Lizzie is no doubt swerving like a bat out of hell trying to get to her sister. 

She can only groan loudly as she tunes back into what her sister is saying. "Mark my words Josette. You and Hope will end up together by my hand if it is the last thing I do! My legacy as a matchmaker depends on it!" 

She lays down on the couch and waits for the inevitable to come, lying to Lizzie in person. 

Their plan hadn't even been going on for twenty-four hours, and she was already regretting it. Josie then remembers how smug Lizzie would be if she found out her jealousy scheme actually worked. This she could manage, an insufferable and smug Lizzie she could not. 

She hardens her face into what she hopes is a determined expression as the door to her apartment opens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it!! =)  
> I forgot I had a twitter, so come check me out if ya wanna, I don't do much on there @Bluejay720


	14. Chapter 14

Lizzie watches her sister with an unreadable expression. "So, since you two spent the night canoodle together, did you at least ask her to the lakehouse?" 

Josie's eyes widen, and her mouth falls open before she snaps her mouth closed. Lizzie had already seen the expression and flung herself back onto the couch with a groan. 

"Must I do everything myself, Josette? What were you even doing all night if you weren't shagging and didn't ask her to come?"

Josie nearly chokes at the word. "Shagging? Lizzie, where are we, in England?" She's trying to distract from her blush. 

"Well, she does have that accent at times, love." Lizzie mocks in a British accent as her sister reddens further. 

Josie rubs her face between her hands and groans loudly. "Fuck. I completely forgot to even ask her." 

Lizzie doesn't reply, only sighs dramatically. "Maya and Ethan are on board, your slacking makes Hope the only one who doesn't know about the trip, Maya promised to not say anything about it until you ask Hope."

Josie groans once more, finally lifting her head to look at Lizzie. 

"I don't even know if she'll want to come. There's going to be a lot of people on the trip. She doesn't like people." The scoff Lizzie let's out is enough for Josie to look up a scowl present, waiting for her sister to elaborate. 

"Hope is so whipped for you that she would literally do anything if you asked." Lizzie begins looking off in the distance as if an idea strikes her. 

"No. Whatever you're thinking, stop it." Josie's sitting up now, already far too aware of her sister's scheming face. 

"Whatever do you mean?" The look only becomes more defined as Lizzie begins to solidify the plan that's rapidly forming in her head. 

"Anyway, Maya was telling me this hilarious story the other day." 

Josie can only hold back the groan that wants to leave her lips as her sister drops the discussion and moves on to another topic. 

She's partly thankful that she managed to escape relatively unscathed. Hopefully, whatever her sister has planned won't be too embarrassing.

The next few days fly by in a hurry. She doesn't get to see Hope or visit the hospital though she wishes she could do both. 

Work, while not unmanageable, was more hectic than usual. With the lakehouse off in the next couple of months, she had to pick up a few extra hours to cover for the days she'll be gone. 

Finally, sweet relief finds her early on a Friday night, for the first time that week, Josie was at home at five rather than eight or nine. 

She had been texting Hope with every free minute she had to spare, glad to at least be talking to the redhead. The past few nights, Hope had called her before bed, and Josie fell asleep to the sound of Hope breathing on the other end. 

It wasn't as if they didn't talk to each other on these calls, but they talked long until the early morning hours. Josie couldn't stay awake and was often the first who drifted off to the sweet sound of Hope's voice or her quiet breathing. 

She felt bad about not seeing Hope since the night they stayed together; she didn't want Hope to think she was ghosting her or having second thoughts. That was honestly the last thing she wanted Hope to feel. 

She kicks off her heels and picks them up, dropping them the second she walks through the door of her bedroom. Hopefully, she doesn't fall or trips over those in the middle of the night. It happened before.

Lizzie decided that since she hadn't seen Josie either this week, they would go to the bar once again this fine Friday night. Her sister's actual words were, "So Josie could finally get laid." Oh well, Lizzie was going to regret butting into her love life soon. 

One of the many times she and Hope had talked was how to get back at Maya and Lizzie after the stunts they pulled. It was surprisingly easy to scheme and plan with Hope. They worked seamlessly together, which often showed; they were the perfect partners in crime. Their plan stemmed from the idea that if Lizzie could butt into her love life, Josie could but into hers. 

Lizzie was supposed to meet at her apartment soon, and as she lays on the bed, a nap feels well deserved. She has just closed her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief when she hears the door to her apartment come open. 

"Oh, Josette!! Are you home?! We have a girlfriend you need to see tonight."

She groans before sitting up and waiting for the inevitable force of her sister walking through her door. 

Within seconds she's proved right as Lizzie opens the door and steps towards her closet with barely a glance towards her. 

Lizzie digs through her closet as if she's looking for something and haphazardly throws some of her clothes. 

"What are you doing?" 

Josie watches from the bed, still sprawled out comfortably, but more awake than before. From a young age, she learned that she had to be on alert when her sister was present. She was too perceptive for her own good and often found Josie's secrets with only minor prodding. 

It's one of the reasons why this busy work week was a blessing in disguise. She didn't have to pretend to be single and not dating Hope in front of her sister. 

Now, this puts their entire plan to the test; if they could fool both Lizzie and Maya, the two people Hope and Josie were the closest. She was a little excited at the idea of sneaking around with the bartender, her mind trails off to stolen kisses and hidden smiles. 

She zones back in, having trailed off thinking about Hope''s lips on hers when Lizzie sounds as if she finds what she's looking for. 

"You should wear this. Hope won't be able to take those deep blue eyes off of you." 

Lizzie pulls out a dress that arguably looks way too small to be considered a dress, or anything near what Josie would wear.

She stares at Lizzie with confusion, having absolutely no knowledge of where it came from, or how it ended up in her closet. 

"Lizzie, where on earth did that come from?" 

"I stashed it away in your closet after I came back from that business trip. I found it for a great price and think you can totally pull it off." Lizzie sounds entirely too happy with herself as she holds it out to Josie, a smile adorning her face.

Josie almost feels bad as her sister's smile drops slightly at her next sentence. "Lizzie, that thing barely will cover my ass, you know that's not something I'd choose to wear." 

Her smile turns more determined now than before as she steps closer to Josie. "That is why it is perfect, dearest sister. Once again, Hope won't be able to keep those eyes off of you and will stare at you all night long. She'll be so focused on how hot you'll look in the dress that she's going to say yes to anything you ask her." 

She opens her mouth to argue once again but stops to think. The dress would look great on her, granted a little too short, but Lizzie's not wrong. She'd look hot. 

Her eyes trail off as a small smirk makes its way to her face at how Hope will react to her. Lizzie must sense her change of heart because she's already jumping up and clapping her hands together. 

"This is perfect, Josie, tonight is the night you and Hope finally confess your feelings."

The bar is more filled than Josie likes. The music is too loud, and far too many people are crowding around. Hope seems tired as if some of her life essences were sucked out of her by a dementor. 

The slight slump of her shoulders and frown present on her face are almost imperceptible to anyone, but Josie knows Hope. 

She knows the way she holds herself in a quiet strength, where she keeps everything inside. She's averse to sharing her pain with others, afraid that they'll be burdened with her pain. A hard mentality to break, one Josie can readily empathize with. 

She remembers all too well how quiet she was and the silent pain she had been in throughout high school. 

Josie begins to make her way through the crowd, her eyes not leaving the bartender as she makes another drink. The second, Hope's eyes meet hers, they light up, her entire body opens up. Josie feels a little proud that her presence can bring that out of the other girl. 

"Josie." The second the brunette is within hearing distance, Hope has her name on her lips like she hasn't seen her in years. There is a degree of desperation as well as a longing in her voice. Before her eyes, Hope hops across the bar, ignoring the many customers awaiting their orders and hugs Josie like her life depends on it.

Having the redhead so close to her is pure bliss. Josie breathes in and smells Hope's scent, strong and present as the other girl's arms wrap tighter around her. Hope has her face buried in Josie's neck, her eyes closed tightly. 

This wasn't exactly a platonic hug with how tight Hope was touching her, but at that moment, she couldn't bring herself to care. The dozens of people watching them, no doubt her sister and Maya included, can all screw off. 

After a few more moments, Hope reluctantly pulls away, seeming as if that's the last thing she wants to do. She stays within a half step away from Josie, though.

"Hey," Hope says it as she takes a deep breath and releases it. Josie is about to reply with her own greeting but stops herself as the redhead finally sees what she's wearing, and her mouth hangs open ever so slightly. 

Josie feels way too confident with how Hope's eyes shift from tired to predatory within a few seconds. The taller girl makes a quick look around and sees Maya and Lizzie watching them rapt with attention behind the bar. They luckily can't see Hope's expression as her back is to them. 

"Do you like the dress? Lizzie got it for me." there is no small amount of smugness in her voice as Hope has yet to reply, only staring with deep dark eyes. 

She watches Hope swallow hard before nodding. 

Her eyes glance up once more at Lizzie, and sees the blonde give her a thumbs up, smiling wide; her plan is all coming together. 

Hope doesn't react much more than looking over at Josie, some of the heat leaves Hope's body, and she seems tired once more. 

"Hope baby, you okay?" she leans forward, so her lips are right next to the redheads, not wanting her sister reading her lips. Hope nods and shakes out of her reservoir. 

She now looks amused at Josie and wears her dopey grin once more, "Of course, babe," all traces of her weariness gone. 

Josie doesn't believe that at all but doesn't argue. "Good, you want to get me a drink? I think it might be showtime tonight." She makes a subtle motion behind Hope to signal they have eyes watching them. The redhead gets it and smiles wide instantly before turning around and heading towards the bar, Josie's hand in hers. 

There's only one bartender actually working, Jeremy, a senior in college, works three times as hard since his bosses were standing and talking. 

Josie was impressed at his work ethic, Hope often left mid shift to be with Josie, and Jeremy was there more times than not, already accustomed to doing more work. 

Hope being the owner definitely had perks. Maya had no excuse not to work other than she enjoyed stirring drama, and Josie could tell there would be some tonight. 

Josie and Hope part ways as he redhead go back behind the bar to where Maya is. Lizzie joins her sister at a table near the bar. 

"So, Hope, doesn't Josie look amazing tonight?" Maya begins smiling ever so sweetly. 

Hope bites back a grin. "She does look amazing. So does Lizzie."

That causes Maya to laugh a little. "She always looks amazing." Hope side-eyes her friend. "I see some chemistry between you two. Are you going to ask her out?" Hope, never one with subtly begins to ask.

Maya quickly looks over at Hope, a shock on her face. "What? No." she looks mildly panicked, making Hope smirk even more.

"I mean, you guys spend as much time together as Josie, and I do, and you know how I feel about Josie. It would almost be off if you didn’t have feelings for her." 

Hope watches carefully as her friend reddens, not speaking before she makes an excuse to walk off to Lizzie, who has finished talking with her sister. 

Maya and Lizzie talk back and forth between the two. Josie comes up to the bar and sits down. "Step one down and in progress."

For the next hour, Josie and Hope make suggestive comments to Maya and Lizzie that they are interested in each other. Josie targets Lizzie with a few remarks and Hope teasing Maya. 

The customers had died down for the moment, making it the perfect time to strike again with the second part of their plan. 

Lizzie finally has enough. She corners Josie near Hope and Maya, but not close enough for them to hear.

"Josie, do you have something to tell me? Why the hell do you and Hope keep suggesting that Maya and I are interested in each other?" 

Josie hums appreciatively and signals for Hope to bring Maya over.  
"I don't have anything to tell you, Lizzie, but I'm pretty sure you and Maya have something to tell us."

Maya slides up next to Lizzie, and hears what Josie says, her brow furrows in confusion. 

Lizzie is the first to recover, "What do you mean 'we have something to tell you.'" her eyes narrow at her sister. 

Josie steps forward, Hope by her side. "You don't have to hide anything from us anymore, Liz, we know." 

"We're not hiding anything." 

"All the late-night trips to the bar, and ditching me the second we get here, the hangouts, it's only natural for it to have happened." 

Both girls look beyond confused, unsure of what is implied or even happening at this point, but Josie continues.

"We know you two are dating, so you don't have to hide it anymore." Her voice is sugary sweet as she says it, a giant smile clear on her face.

Lizzie's mouth drops open, as does Maya's. They both remain silent.

"It makes so much sense now why Lizzie always dragged me to the bar and would immediately leave to go to Maya, and all the texting back and forth, I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. I mean, why else would you and Maya be spending SO much time together?" 

Lizzie, having gotten over her shock, comes to realize the game Josie is playing. She was all too aware of her sister's plots and schemes. Josie shouldn't play this game, for she forgot that Lizzie taught her everything she knew. 

"Oh, this is great, Baby, I'm so glad they know, now we don't have to hide our love anymore." Lizzie dramatically explains, Maya still looks confused at what happened, even more so at Lizzie's words. 

"Hey, now that we're all here, do you know what would be fun, Josette? Body shots. We haven't done those since college." 

Josie sees the shift in her sister's eyes, almost like a tennis match. The ball was now in her court. 

"Oh, Liz, that sounds like an amazing idea, but don't you want to kiss your girlfriend? I mean, this is the first time you don't have to hide from us?" 

"Don't you want to kiss yours?" Lizzie all but growls, her patience is running thin at her sister's plan. They have gotten closer to each other without realizing it, like two lionesses pairing off against each other.

This may seem out of nowhere, but sometimes, Josie and Lizzie needed to share passive-aggressive words with each other, needed to fight just a little bit. The main difference in this fight is that Josie was the one who started it seemingly without prompting. 

"I don't have a girlfriend, unlike you." 

"Oh, but you wish you did, don't you, Josette?" Her voice is low and hushed. Maya and Hope couldn't hear from how quiet she said it.

Lizzie glances at the two girls on either side of them and grabs Josie's arm and pulls her away to the side, far enough away that the music drowned out their voices. 

"What are you doing, Josie?"

Josie does nothing but smile. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lizzie. I'm simply happy my sister and her new girlfriend don't have to hide in front of Hope and me. Unless there's another reason, you two have been spending time together." She repeats it again with a sinister look in her eyes. 

Maya looks at Hope as if she can do something, but the redhead only shrugs at her, letting everything play out. 

The two sisters hash it out through quiet whispers at each other.  
"Well, maybe if you stayed out of my love life, then I wouldn't feel the need to retaliate and get involved with yours." Josie practically growls at her sister. 

Lizzie hums appreciatively as if she's thinking. "No, I don't think I will. You forget who taught you how to play this game, Jo, let's see what you got." 

Both girls are in a rock and a hard place, neither wanting to give up anything to the other. They do walk over together to the girls waiting patiently for them. 

Lizzie steps up to Maya and surprisingly grabs her, kissing her hard. Maya's eyes widen, but she soon melds herself into the kiss, allowing Lizzie to pull her tighter. 

While Josie shouldn't be shocked, she is. Lizzie did always have a bad habit of never backing down from a challenge. Once the blonde pulls away, Maya seems to be in a daze, but Lizzie moves first and angles herself back towards Josie and Hope. 

"Now, Josette, I think some body shots are in order." 

The smirk she gives Josie is far too smug for her own good, Josie's and Hope's plan backfiring.

"Fine. Let's do body shots." The brunette grumbles. 

Within a few moments, the group is set up to do shots. The bar seems to light up with the girls about to do the shots, a crowd forms around the four, cheering. 

'Why don't you do the honors, Jo? I'm sure Hope would love your tongue on her." 

That comment was enough to make both girl's blush. Josie's was far more intense than Hope's as she could feel her entire face redden. She moves over to begin and is instantly brought back to a time a few years ago. This was all so reminiscent of how she spent much of her time at college. 

The second the thought of college entered her mind, so did the idea of her ex. 

She scowls, and Hope, who is lying back on the table, must notice immediately. She's sitting up now, her hand on Josie's cheeks stroking lovingly. 'You okay?' she mouths. 

She could have said it, but the roar of the crowd made everything seem louder. Or maybe it was her blood rushing through her ears. 

She's about to reply but feels her entire arm alight in goosebumps. She immediately looks, feels a specific pair of eyes on her, and turns her head. 

One Penelope park stares back at her, watching intently. Josie, for a second, believes she's hallucinating, but unfortunately isn't.

Penelope walks forward with an unreadable expression. 

"Hey, Jojo." She must be yelling because she can hear her so perfectly. Maybe it's just her imagination from how many times she listened to that sentence from the raven-haired girl. 

This is the first time she's seen the other girl in person, not in pictures or at a distance, it feels terribly amazing. Amazing because she's as beautiful and as perfect as she had been when she left Josie's apartment almost five months ago, not a hair out of place. Terrible because her heart aches just seeing her like this.

Lizzie is by her side instantly, so is Hope. The crowd seems to not lose any energy because two other people are soon taking Hope's and Josie's spot on the table. 

The brunette doesn't realize any of this; she can only stare at the girl in front of her. She shouldn't be surprised, honestly. The other girl had been there the first night, and it was a small miracle she hadn't been back before tonight. Josie had avoided seeing her ex for so long.

Before the girls can speak, Penelope begins. "Can we talk? I'd like to speak to you if you let me." Josie swallows hard, not able to form words.

Lizzie steps in. "Why the hell would she go anywhere with you, Satan?" 

Josie puts her hand on Lizzie's shoulder and squeezes once, then twice. 

"It's okay, Lizzie, I got this." Her body moves on autopilot now, following Penelope and sending a quick grimace that she meant as a smile to Hope as she leaves. 

"What the hell just happened?" Lizzie says to Hope. The redhead can only shrug and watch Josie's retreating form as her expression morphs to that of a kicked puppy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! so I have 2 new fics that are in the works currently, but I'm not sure which one to work on first, I'll post both eventually but I have the first chapter almost done on both so if you guys want you can comment which fic you want to see first and I'll post that one sometime soonish. =)
> 
> Option A: Josie is a college student doing laundry at a laundromat at two in the morning. She's in desperate need of clothes and decides to do her top and bottoms as well, leaving her in her underwear. Enter Hope who finds her half naked
> 
> Option B: Kind of a soulmate au where Hope keeps distancing herself from Josie and her wolf is done being denied seeing their soulmate and forces Hope to shift and won't leave Josie. Also a childhood friends au where we see little Hope and Josie interact and How Hope cares for Josie from a distance 
> 
> Anyway, Thanks for reading!!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both new fics are out! so if you want you can go read them =D

Hope was having a terrible week. 

First, Josie wasn't able to see her that much because of work, which was understandable. The other girl couldn't spend all her time with Hope. 

Second, the anniversary of her mom's death was rapidly approaching, and she could already feel the haze of darkness that always followed. When she was younger, she would often keep herself in a drunken stupor the entire week. It made forgetting easier, but the pain never went away.

Luckily she had Maya and Ethan; they always looked after her and made sure she didn't brood herself into too much trouble. This time of year was always the worst, her father's and uncle's death following a few weeks after her mother's. It had been one of the worst times she can ever remember experiencing in her life.

It felt like this time every year was actively trying to make her suffer. She wished for some reprieve but honestly, there wasn't much that could be done until the next couple of weeks were over. 

The third and final reason she felt off was that she could feel that something terrible would happen. 

The Mikaelson family had an uncanny ability to tell when something bad was going to happen. Call it a sixth sense or whatever, but it was real. Before her aunt Freya had been in the hospital, Hope had vivid dreams of hearing gunshots and seeing her aunt in the hospital. 

She had been told of other instances where one of them got a bad feeling, and the feeling wouldn't leave; it would follow like a black cloud. Lingering in every facet of the mind. 

Hope had felt that same feeling once again during the past week that she couldn't shake. She hoped it was just residual suffering from her family's deaths, but as she thinks about it more, it felt how she felt right before her aunt Freya was almost killed. 

The only thing Hope wanted was to be held by her girlfriend. The thought itself is enough to cut through the haze and bring a smile to her face. She hadn't been sleeping much the past week, maybe a few hours, but not much more than that. 

She wanted this feeling to leave her and never come back, but she could feel it deep within her bones. Something terrible was going to happen. 

The whole week had been rough, especially that Friday night. When Josie walked through the crowd and Hope first laid eyes on her, she felt like she could breathe. 

Air returned to her lungs, and her body was again lit up from the tall brunette. Holding her in her arms was even better; getting to touch her and be close was something she had craved all week. Now that she finally had her made it entirely worth it. 

When they pulled away, she noticed Josie and her dress. 

God, that dress. 

Those innocent doe eyes looked deep into hers and wouldn't look away. 

She was falling hard. 

As the night progressed, Hope couldn't help but feel amused as Lizzie and Josie went after each other. Maya had been all too easy to tease about her "relationship" with the blonde Saltzman. 

As the night progressed, Maya only grew more flustered, especially when Lizzie had actually kissed her. Hope was so going to have to interrogate her friend later on. 

With everything happening in her life, Hope was overwhelmed. For once everything seemed to be going alright, and then this week happened and made it all come crashing down. 

As Hope watched Josie walk away and follow the beautiful girl she had only seen once before, she can't help but feel lost.

Hope knows That Josie is her girlfriend, knows that the other girl wants to be with her, but what they have is also so fresh and new. It would be all too easy for the other girl to shift her focus away from Hope and back towards her ex.

'How can I compete with someone who had already had her past. What if she wants the future too?'

Hope watches on with the dark cloud over her head, dampening her already frayed mood. She hopes she'll still have a girlfriend by the end of the night. She couldn't bear the thought of Josie leaving her too. 

Josie sits close to Penelope, the music fading in the background, it was hard to hear anything with the blood rushing through her ears. 

Josie tries to keep her expression emotionless, much like how Lizzie can do at the drop of a hat. But unfortunately for her, she is far more apt to wear her emotions on her sleeve and cannot wipe them away. 

Penelope is no help either, all she is doing is looking at Josie like she's this immortal goddess that's taken human form. Josie used to love it when the raven-haired girl looked at her like that. 

"So, you wanted to talk...?" She trails off, unsure of how to start this. Her ex just continues to stare for a moment before she finally begins to speak. 

"How are you?" 

Penelope asks almost breathless like Josie's mere presence was enough to take her breath away. This was always one of her favorite sides of the other girl, hopelessly in love and not afraid to show it. Josie had been delighted when she was able to call Penelope hers.

"Pen, you came here to talk to me, not ask me how I was." Josie's afraid that nothing will get done if they don't start talking now. And Josie would really rather be in Hope's arms and cry for a few hours rather than face her ex again. But oh well. She's already here.

"Straight to the point, I see." It's quiet once again. 

"Josie, I wanted to ask you if there was a way we could start again? If we could continue our relationship as it was and build it up again, and make it better than when we were together." She pauses, maybe to get a gauge on how Josie is feeling. The brunette stares at the table, trying hard to keep tears from falling. 

All of this is overwhelming and almost too much. 

"I'm so sorry for what I did, I was wrong. And childish, and you deserve better." She pauses, taking Josie's hand in hers. 

"But I want to be better for you, Josie. I have missed you for so long and know I messed up. All I'm asking for is a chance to prove that I have changed and can treat you the way you deserve to be treated. I love you." The mere utterance of those words forces tears to slowly fall from Josie's eyes. They were meant to be sacred, not said loosely, Penelope knew how much those words meant to her. 

She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment and looks away. "I don't think we can just move on from this Penny. You hurt me, really bad. I don't think that will ever change."

Penelope looks hurt at the words, but understanding crosses on her face. "You were amazing and kind and funny and so alluring that I couldn't imagine not being with you at the time. But now, I think it's best if we both move on from each other. In the end, I wasn't what you needed, and you weren't what I needed."

Penelope stares hard her brow furrowed, "I don't get it, Jo, I want to try again and be better for you, I know I hurt you, but I want to try again. Is there someone else?"

She opens her mouth and closes it once again before nodding. 

Defeat washes over the other girl as she stands up and takes Josie's hand in hers, kissing the knuckles' tops. 

"If you change your mind, Jojo, call me. I don't want to give up on us, on you." 

The raven-haired girl is standing now eyes downcast. As she's about to head out, Josie grabs her arm. 

"Hey, Pen, how did you know I was here? You hadn't seemed surprised when you saw me, even though I was surprised to see you."

Penelope looks hard at Josie, something crosses her face, something like hesitation. "Josie, Lizzie told me I should talk to you; she told me you would be here." 

The whole world stops moving. She swears she can feel her heartbeat slow to a complete stop as it skips a beat. 

"She said what?" Josie swallows hard as all the emotions she felt the past ten minutes turn to anger and rage. 

"Did you not know I was coming? I know you looked surprised when I got here, but I thought that was just because we saw each other for the first time in so long. Did she really not tell you?"

Penelope now appears angered at Lizzie on Josie's behalf. This was an expression Josie had seen many times when they were dating. It was no secret that Lizzie had hated Penelope and vice versa for most of the time they dated each other.

"I can't believe her! No, I'm sorry I can; it's Lizzie." Penelope scoffs and is looking as if she's about to find her sister and fight her. 

"Penelope stop, I know it's wrong, but I'm sure she had her reasons. It's fine." 

Now the anger seems to be directed at her. "Why are you still defending her? Even after all this time, you protect her and put her first? I thought you were over the codependent streak." 

"Stop it, Pen. I am over being codependent, I haven't been for a long time. I'll deal with Lizzie later." Josie could feel a headache already ready to come on, her anger was still burning hard at Lizzie and the anxiety from seeing her ex. 

'What the hell. I just wanted to spend the night with Hope.' 

"No, you're not! She was half the reason why we broke up! I couldn't spend time with you before she called you over every five seconds, demanding your attention. She was always pushing you to do what she wanted! Why do you keep defending her!" 

Tears of anger burn behind her eyes, she was so angry she feels as if she would explode. The tears that had fallen before were ready to be joined with reinforcements. 

"We broke up because you cheated on me, Penelope. And when I was left broken to pieces by you, Lizzie was there to help pick me up. Just as she has always done for me, so don't you dare say we broke up because of her." 

Josie doesn't spare the other girl another glance before she's making her way through the crowd. Trying to distance herself from the raven-haired girl before she starts a fight. 

She sees Hope near the bar, still not working. She looks anxious and sad all at the same time. Before she can get to Hope, Lizzie steps in front of her, concerned sister look on her face.

That makes Josie's blood boil even more. Penelope might not have been entirely right, but that didn't make her words altogether wrong. Lizzie was to blame for what happened tonight, and Josie was angry. 

"You knew she was coming here tonight. You told her to come here tonight. Why the hell did you do that?" 

Lizzie looks taken back by the tone Josie uses. "Why do you sound so angry?" 

Josie scoffs, crossing her arms. "I don't know, Lizzie. Maybe because my sister called my ex and forced me into seeing her again." 

"You weren't supposed to get mad! You were supposed to show Satan how better off you were without her! To throw yourself onto Hope!" 

Josie begins to laugh slightly maniacal now, the charged atmosphere of the bar doing nothing to alleviate the anger and pain she felt. 

Josie doesn't say another word before she continues walking, finishing he distance towards Hope, knowing her sister's eyes are watching her. Everything feels far too twisted now, overwhelming. When she gets to Hope, she sees the redhead lift her mouth up into a weak smile.

She throws her arms around Hope just as the first sob wracks through her body. Hope seems startled, but takes Josie in her arms and leads her away from any gazes that might be watching. 

She's able to pull herself together for a few seconds as they walk away, but when they get to the stairs leading to Hope's apartment, the tears fall hard with no end in sight. 

Josie slumps against Hope's solid form and practically lets herself be dragged up to the apartment. 

When they get into the apartment, Hope lets go of Josie for a second and digs around her kitchen before coming out with a bottle of some sort of alcohol and wraps her arm around Josie's waist. 

She continues to lead the quiet girl up another set of stairs that Josie had never been to before. 

The stairs lead to a roof that overlooks the city. "I don't normally condone drinking your problems away, but I feel like we could both use a drink." 

Hope sits down near the edge of the roof with Josie following after. They remain close enough to the edge to see over but not close enough to have a fear of falling off. 

As they sit there in silence for a moment, Hope takes a drink from the bottle, Josie follows right after with a big gulp. 

Josie opens her mouth to speak before she closes her eyes again and feels the overwhelming emotions of the night hit her. She sobs again, and Hope is quick to wrap her up in her arms, holding her tight. 

"Jo, what's wrong?" She's almost in a panic now. Her heartbeat is racing as she's breathing heavily. 

"Hey, Jo, breathe. Come on, baby, breath." Hope wraps her arms around Josie, helping to steady her. The Bartender whispers soothing words into Josie's ear, calming her breathing and grounding her to reality. 

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracks as she says this, still clinging to Hope. The redhead brings her face into her hands, cradling it so gently. 

"Don't apologize, everyone needs help, you don't have to be strong around me, you can let yourself lean on me, okay?" She shakes her head, nodding to Hope's words as she takes them in.

Josie is quiet once more and finally feels she can open up, her sobs have quieted and have stopped wracking across her body. 

"Thank you for this Hope... I really needed it."

Josie leans up with trembling lips and kisses Hope's cheek, they linger before she pulls back. 

They stay like that drinking, sharing the bottle back and forth, and clinging to each other, grounding both to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof sad Josie and Hope


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I'm sorry for the wait uni has been kicking my ass, lol my fic writing time has been taken away and turned into 10 page paper writing time. Hope this makes up for it!

Lizzie watches as Hope and Josie leave the room. A wave of hurt that she can feel through the twin bond touches her, along with her own anxieties and feelings of regret. Her stomach flips and flops with a pain she's not familiar with. 

'I never meant to hurt Jo...' 

Lizzie grimaces and wants to be angry with Penelope, wants to hate the raven-haired witch even more than she already does, and put all the blame onto her. She knows, though, that she can't do that; she was the one to hurt Josie this time. 

Lizzie is deep in thought, wondering how she can make this up to her sister when Maya slides next to her. The girl places her hand on the blonde's back, causing Lizzie to look over, startled at the touch but calms once seeing who it is. 

"Hey, you okay?" Maya is quiet as she speaks and moves closer to the other girl, the loud music making it hard to hear. 

She nods her head but a frown present as she feels the twin emotions Josie is exuding. Once seeing her expression, Maya brings her closer and wraps her arms around Lizzie's shoulders, holding her tight. 

The blonde Saltzman allows the touch and clings to Maya's slightly smaller form. She talks right next to Maya's ear so the other girl could hear her, "I never wanted to hurt her. I wanted to give her closure." She sighs heavily, her shoulders tight with tension. Maya stays quiet, almost sure there's more Lizzie needs to get out. 

"I'm pretty sure all I did was hurt her even more by bringing Penelope here." She swallows hard as Maya pulls her closer; she burrows her face into the other girl's neck, a few stray tears falling from her eyes. 

"Josie will come around; you should apologize the next time you see her, maybe some slight groveling. But she's your twin, and she'll know that you didn't mean to hurt her." 

Lizzie nods and seems to calm down at Maya's words. "Thank you, I really needed to hear that." Lizzie leans forward and kisses Maya on the cheek, her lips lingering for a few seconds. It was reminiscent of the kiss they shared not long before. 

Lizzie felt settled in a way she hadn't felt in a long time, content and happy wrapped up in the other girl's arms. She could get used to this.

Josie and Hope are pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, overlooking the distance. Both girls are deep in thought. Josie takes another small sip of alcohol, enjoying the slight buzz she was feeling.

Neither girl had said anything for a little while, allowing the silence to overtake them. Josie's tears have dried and are no longer falling.

"How long were you and Penelope together? If you don't mind me asking." The question is asked hesitantly, worry seeping into Hope's voice. 

Josie is silent for a few more seconds before answering. "About four years." Though Josie is quiet for another moment, Hope doesn't say anything, understanding that there's more to what the other girl has to say. 

"We met during my final year at college. I had never been a big partier, but Lizzie had convinced me to go to one. It was held off-campus at another senior's house." Remembrance flashes across Josie's eyes as she takes back the past memory. 

"I was still fairly shy and quiet, even at college. Penelope was like no one else I'd seen before. The entire party could feel the way she moved as if she controlled the crowd. For some reason, her eyes landed on me, and I was hooked. Granted, I tried to fight it. Apparently, she and Lizzie hated each other, which made me decide that I hated her."

Hope let's out a small snort at that. She could easily imagine the blonde hating the girl she had met for a short time and convincing Josie to not like her as well. 

"Lizzie had gone off to flirt with someone and left me alone. Since I'm not a fan of crowds, I searched for a place away from most people. When I left, Penelope was sitting outside, a joint in her hand blowing smoke. She offered me a hit, and I just really wanted to impress her, so I took it. Next thing I know, we're both making out against a bedroom door." 

Hope listens intently at Josie's words, so intent that the brunette has to stop herself from getting sidetracked from staring into her eyes.

"That's how our relationship started. It was supposed to be a no strings attached type of thing, a way to blow off steam. It turned out to be so much more than that." 

"Why did you guys break up? again, you don't have to tell me." 

Josie looks over and squeezes Hope's hand in reassurance, a small smile on her face. "No, I want to tell you. Everything went really well when we had gotten together. At first, it was all passion and sneaking around, trying to hide from Lizzie. When our relationship started for good, Penelope had still wanted to go out to bars and party while I focused on work. Lizzie and I have always been close, so close, that Penelope believed Lizzie had been spending too much time with me." Josie trails off, trying to say her next sentence.

Hope looks confused, her brow furrowed and listening intently. "In high school, Lizzie and I had been super codependent with each other, but as we got older, we were able to figure out a healthy way for us to rely on each other. But it took us a while to get there. Since Penelope and Lizzie never got along, they went after each other with thinly-veiled comments and attacks. In the end, the breaking point of our relationship was when I caught Penelope cheating on me when I went to her apartment after work." 

She shakes her head at the memories and rubs her face in her hands, trying to massage away a headache. 

"I'm sorry that happened, Jo. You deserve so much better than to be treated like that; you deserve the best." She finishes her sentence by squeezing Josie's hand, letting her know she's there. 

"Thanks, Hope. I really do appreciate everything you've done for me." she knocks their shoulders together, still feeling the buzz of the alcohol present. 

Silence washes over them as they stare at the overlook, both thinking over what Josie had just said. 

Hope doesn't like seeing Josie sad, especially not about her past, so she tries to cheer her up, "Well, I've seen drunk, Josie. Now I just need to see high Josie." 

That catches the brunette's attention as her head swivels over towards Hope, and red adorning her cheeks. She can feel herself panic at the idea, and embarrassment flushes through her. "You don't want to see me high, trust me." 

She hopes that Hope will not further the conversation to try and figure out why, no such luck. "Why not? I'm sure you'd be cute high." 

The dopey smile she loves set in place makes her heart flip. It doesn't help how Hope is looking at her. 

"I might get a little sex-crazed when high." She looks away from Hope. "Oh?" Hope leans forward, her lips grazing Josie's ear. "Then, I really need to see high Josie." 

She stares at Hope with a hooded gaze, her eyes dropping to look at Hope's lips, debating whether to press their mouths together. 

Hope must read her mind because she decides for her, moving slowly so Josie can stop her if she feels uncomfortable. Josie is far from it and pushes their lips together in the end. A beautiful fire burns low in her stomach. 

They stay like that, slowly and passionately moving together, a fire present but still sweet. Once they pull away, a lack of oxygen becoming an issue, Hope rests her forehead on Josie's

"Hope?" 

Josie breaks the silence, remembering the weariness Hope had shown at the beginning of the night. "Yeah, Jo?" 

"Are you okay? When I first saw you today, you didn't look good, kinda like you were having a hard time..." She trails off. The air is quiet after she finishes speaking. 

"This entire week has been really... hard." Now Hope is the one to trail off, but Josie just watches her with loving eyes, listening intently.

"The anniversary of my mom's death is coming up next week, then my dad's and uncles after that. It's been like this dark cloud hanging over my head for the past couple of days." Josie rubs her hand up and down Hope's back, calming her. 

"Then, there's been this perpetual feeling that something bad is coming, or is going to happen, I don't know." Hope shrugs her shoulders and leans into Josie's touch. 

"Thank you for telling me Hope, I'm always here for you if you ever want to talk. You're so important to me." Josie leans over and places a kiss on Hope's forehead, lingering there before pulling back. 

Silence washes over them; the alcohol they both had created a warm buzz throughout their bodies.

A thought comes to Josie's mind that has her throwing out a hand onto Hope's thigh, grabbing the girl's attention, surprising both. Hope looks at the brunette, shocked at the sudden movement. 

"Hope! Do you want to come to my family's lakehouse with me?" 

Hope blinks once and then twice, her mouth tilts up into a smile at how frantic Josie sounds; before she can respond, Josie is already speaking. 

"Lizzie and I go to my family's lakehouse; we usually spend time with our mom. Since our mom is busy with work, she suggested we bring friends over and spend time with them for a week altogether... I've been meaning to ask you for so long if you wanted to come." Josie takes a deep breath. Her rambling took her breath away.

"I'd love to go." Hope gives Josie the softest smile and brings their hands together, intertwining them. She brings their locked hands together and presses a kiss to Josie's knuckles. 

"Really?" There's a childish glint in Josie's eyes as if she was expecting Hope to say no. 

"Of course, Jo, as if I would tell you no." Hope rolls her eyes, a playful smile on her lips. 

Josie almost tackles Hope when she presses their lips together; the kisses are sloppy, and anywhere Josie can reach on Hope's face, causing laughter to erupt out of Hope's mouth. They stay kissing for a long time, both enjoying the comfort and warmth the other brings. 

Josie pushes her nose into Hope's neck, breathing in her scent and mapping a trail along Hope's neck. "Thank you for cheering me up, Hope."

"Any time Jo. What would we be doing at the lakehouse?" 

Josie's eyes light up at the question, excitement gleaming through. She tells Hope stories of the fun she and Lizzie had when they were younger, the places to go, and the sites to see. Hope was happy to listen and watch Josie talk animatedly with her hands. 

Hours had passed before they know it, and Hope decides now is a good time to head to bed. The bottle is still mostly full, both girls having forgotten it was there as they talked to each other, so both were only tipsy. 

That doesn't stop Josie from wrapping her arms around Hope as they make their way to Hope's room and fall asleep curled around each other. 

The following days are hard for Hope. She struggles with the death of her mother, but Josie is there every step of the way. Josie had practically been living with Hope the past few days. 

Along with trying to help Hope the best she could and still working, she had also been doing her best to avoid Lizzie. It had only been around four days since the whole Penelope debacle, but Josie really didn't want to face her sister. She wasn't as mad anymore, rather disappointed and sad that Lizzie had tried to push her so far; it was definitely reminiscent of when they were in high school. 

If Lizzie is anything, it's determined, and her sister's ghosting does nothing but forces her to try even harder to get a hold of Josie. 

One of these plans is to break into Hope's apartment through the fire escape and refuse to leave until she sees Josie. 

She doesn't end up doing that. Maya talked her out of it on the grounds that it's 'unsafe' and 'slightly illegal.' 

In the end, she does get to see Josie and apologizes profusely. That's another thing that changed since high school. Most often, Lizzie wouldn't apologize for anything, even when she was in the wrong. That was one of the main issues of their codependent streak. 

Now, Lizzie was able to swallow her pride and apologize to Josie, especially in this instance, where she had only wanted to help but caused unnecessary pain to her sister. 

Another week passes by with Josie staying with Hope, her father's and uncle's death hanging over the redhead like a wave of darkness. 

Luckily, Josie has plenty of experience helping people work through their emotions and act as a comfort; that's why she was so good at helping Lizzie when they were younger.

Hope and Josie gravitate towards each other, still basking in the glow of their relationship. Because of everything happening with Hope's family, they hadn't had time to go on a first date since they had gotten together. 

They had slept together (with their clothes on, cuddling throughout the night) many times but hadn't been able to go on a first date yet.

Josie had almost cracked and told Lizzie multiple times that she and Hope were officially dating, but a small spiteful part of her enjoyed keeping it hidden. 

So she had to find a way to plan their first date without Lizzie interrupting or finding out, which had become progressively more challenging.

Hope walked her out to her car when she had to leave for work. It was right after noon; her work had started later that day, only being a half day. 

Josie kisses Hope hard on the lips, clinging to the shorter girl's body. Hope leans up and wraps their arms around the taller girl. When they finish kissing for longer than necessary, Josie gets into her car and drives off to work.

For right now, everything is perfect for the two. Unbeknownst to them, a storm is coming.

Further down the street in an almost unnoticeable black car sits a man holding a camera. He takes another picture of the two girls before pulling out a phone. 

He dials the number needed and begins to talk as the other person answers, 

"Everything is going according to plan. The Mikaelson heir won't know what's coming until it's too late."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! sorry for the wait, I haven't had as much time to write, but hopefully you won't have to wait as long till I get the next chapter out, It's going to be a big one =} Thanks for reading! Hope you like it! I think the next thing I should post after this is the laundromat au! I'm halfway done with the chapter and think you all will like it!

Hope falls back on the bed, scooting towards the middle as Josie gets on top of her, straddling her waist. 

Their lips meet in a flurry of passionate, sloppy kisses, trying to touch the other as much as possible. 

Josie's hands trail across Hope's sides, the shirt bunching up enough that she feels the muscled skin of Hope's abs. 

Josie touches Hope's muscles, raking her nails down the toughened skin and leaving white lined down her middle. The redhead is intent on leaving as many marks on Josie's neck as possible, kissing every inch of skin her lips can reach. 

A loud moan leaves Josie's mouth when Hope nips at the soft skin on her neck, biting down hard enough to leave a mark. 

Another moan leaves Josie's mouth as Hope continues marking the skin with kisses; an almost animalistic growl leaves Hope's mouth at the sounds she's coaxing out of Josie.

The taller girl moves her hand up to Hope's hair and tugs as another bite meets her neck. "Hope." 

Josie moaning Hope's name sends the other girl into a flurry, flipping Josie onto her back and proceeding to straddle her. They stay like that for a moment as Hope leans down to lock their lips together. 

Hope seems to be taking much joy in kissing Josie's neck, as she switches to mark the other side as well. At this point, all of Hope's instincts were set into overdrive as the only thought that crossed her mind was one word. 

_ Mine _

Josie was hers and hers alone. No one could touch the brunette the way Hope was touching her now. 

The possessive thoughts make Hope feel a little guilty because Josie was her own person, not a possession. 

However, a deep and secret part of herself reveled in the idea of Josie being hers, and she being Josie's. She growls again at the thought, making Josie moan again and tug on her hair. 

Josie was going to have to use a lot of concealer to cover her neck. Otherwise, everyone was going to know that she had been marked. 

_ Let them see the marks. Then everyone will know she's mine. _

'Maybe then Mark or Mike or whatever the hell his name is will stop trying to ask her out on a date.'

After her stream of possessive thoughts and Hope had sufficiently covered Josie in many kisses, the two women slowed down their heated makeout. 

It seemed they both were calming down, breathing into the other's mouth practically panting. 

"I could keep kissing you forever," Josie says between kisses as Hope presses their lips together again.

"Right back at you, baby, your touch is magic." Josie's eyes flutter shut at the pet name. Their lips meet once more before Hope sits up, and allows Josie to sit up as well, a dazed look in her eyes. 

They stay close together even though they stop kissing, breathing the same air. Their relationship ever since they had gotten together had been similar to how they were friends. Except now, heated kisses and touches were also an added bonus. 

"Hey, baby?" Josie breaks the silence that had enveloped them and is now a few inches away from Hope so they could talk.

"Yeah, Jo?"

The brunette is biting her lip, looking hesitant at asking. 

"I was wondering how you would feel if we told other people that we had started dating?"

Hope is quiet as she waits for Josie to continue, the other girl looking like she had more to say.

"Since the whole Penelope thing, Lizzie hasn't been scheming as much or at least is taking a break from it. She still feels guilty about everything that happened. And since her and Maya's scheming was one of the reasons we didn't say anything, it seems like now would be a good time?" 

Hope thinks over her words silently for a few seconds before a smile graces her lips. "If you're ready, Jo, I'd love to tell people." 

Josie can't help but rush forward and kisses Hope in excitement. "Thank you! I'm so excited! I can't wait for people to know you're mine!" 

Josie seems to realize what she said as her cheeks darken. Hope let's out a little laugh at that, glad she hadn't been the only one with possessive thoughts. "I'd love for others to know that I'm yours, baby."

Hope places a delicate kiss right under Josie's ear and then each of her cheeks, placing small kisses anywhere she can reach before landing on her lips. 

They stay cuddled close together for another hour before Josie groans loudly as she sits up on the bed. Hope begins to pout when Josie pulls away from her. 

"I have to go. Lizzie has been trying to make amends, and since we've been spending more time together, She wants to do a mandatory sister's night." 

Hope opens her mouth to speak, but Josie beats her to it, placing a hand on the redhead's lips. "She's sleeping over, so no, I can't come over afterward." 

She can't help but smile when Hope juts her lip out into a pout. She looks like a child being denied candy, but even cuter than that. 

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to persuade you to stay?" There's a suggestive lilt in Hope's voice as she brings their lips close together but not quite touching. 

Like a moth drawn to the flame, Josie is pulled towards the irresistible goddess that is Hope Mikaelson. 

They kiss slowly, just a press of their lips together. Josie was almost convinced to stay, convinced to tell Lizzie to come over another night. But alas, she must go to her sister, who would definitely put up a fit if she canceled. 

Josie pulls their lips apart just enough to graze together with each word, "I really have to go." 

Hope pouts further when Josie pulls off of her and gets off the bed. 

Josie wants more than nothing to keep kissing Hope forever, but she refrains and watches as Hope fixes her shirt that Josie had hiked up earlier in their makeout. 

Josie goes to grab her shoes and stops once she sees herself in the mirror in Hope's room. 

"Hope!' 

The redhead looks at Josie, a surprised look on her face; the look turns smug moments later. 

Josie is turning her head from left to right, trying to better look at the marks that line her neck. The reddened skin is prominent and clear as day to anyone who would see them. 

"Hope! I'm seeing my sister in less than an hour! She's going to see and know you gave them to me!" 

Hope steps up right behind Josie and places a hand on the brunette's stomach, moving it under her shirt to touch the soft skin. 

She leans up and nips at Josie's ear, delighting in the moan that leaves Josie's lips. "You did want to tell her about us tonight; this will give you a good segway." 

Josie tries to pout and look angry at Hope but finds herself unable to. She's not really mad.

Hope continues her gentle kisses along the reddened skin and places her lips on Josie's ear. "Besides, baby, you weren't complaining."

"Hope." She can't help the needy moan that leaves her lips and feels disappointment wash through her as Hope steps back. 

"What, Jo? I thought you had to leave?"

Josie narrows her eyes at Hope and presses their fronts together. "Don't think I'll forget this, Hope Mikaelson. I am going to pay you back fully the next time I see you." She pulls apart with a nip of Hope's ear and a quick kiss.

Hope will miss Josie and is looking forward to the next time they will see each other. 

They get ready quickly after Hope hands Josie a scarf to cover her neck and make their way downstairs towards the bar. Before they become visible to others, Josie presses a quick kiss to Hope's lips. "It's okay if I tell Lizzie tonight?" 

She lets the question linger between the two, as the bartender smiles bright and loving as she stares into Josie's eyes.

"Of course, Jo, I'll tell Maya after she gets off work today." 

With that, they head out towards the bar. Maya is handing a customer their drink and turns towards them as they come in. 

"Hey, you two." 

She walks over to the tall brunette and hugs her tightly, smiling as they sink into each other's arms. 

Maya has enjoyed how close her and the twins have gotten the past couple of weeks. She enjoyed having Josie in her arms, though she enjoyed having Lizzie more so. 

"I have to get going; I'll see you both sometime soon, okay?" 

Maya watches her two friends as they dance around each other; Josie leans over and places a small kiss on Hope's cheek in goodbye. It was far too close to considered friendly.

Maya doesn't understand how two people can be so oblivious. Anyone with half a brain could tell that they were interested in each other—everyone but them.

Recently she has found herself thinking about Hope and Josie and their inability to see right in front of them. 

If one of them simply told the other how they feel, they both could be dating and halfway to marriage. Hell, if Hope asked, Josie would probably move in right then. Instead, they are both going to continue pining until one of them breaks.

She continues watching them suspiciously as they say their final goodbye and watches as Hope walks Josie to the door, and watches the brunettes back in yearning. 

The action seems familiar to her, and the feeling of pining after someone and doing nothing about it. She has a distinct feeling that she is in a similar position that Hope is in but refuses to do something about it.

Her mind flutters to the other half of the Saltzman twins, and her heart begins to speed up. She really needs to get a handle on this. It seems as if the blonde is always on her mind now. 

Her brain is on repeat now, thinking over their past interactions with each other. The deep blue eyes of her partner and crime haunt her very soul and mind. 

Maybe she can understand a little better why Hope and Josie don't talk about their feelings. Even if it's painfully apparent that they both like each other. 

At least obvious to everyone but them. 

Hope right now looks like a wife watching her husband go off to war with how pitiful she looks watching Josie walk away. 

Maya has to roll her eyes at her friend. At least she doesn't watch Lizzie with yearning all the time. 

Hope walks back to where Maya is after Josie is out of sight. Their eyes meet, and Maya can see the red touch Hope's cheeks at being caught staring at the brunette.

"So, you seemed to have a good time." Maya begins, teasing in her voice. 

Hope rolls her eyes but smiles at the gentle tone Maya used. Spending so much of her time with Josie the past couple of weeks meant she hadn't spent as much time with Maya as she usually did. She missed it.

The redhead, while not usually a touchy person (for anyone who's not Josie) reaches out and wraps her arms around Maya, sinking into her friend's arms.

"Hey, Hope?"

Maya whispers into Hope's hair, not wanting to ruin their quiet moment; she continues when Hope hums her response.

"A week ago, when you said that Lizzie and I would look good together, were you serious? About seeing the chemistry between us...?" 

Hope pulls away so she could look at Maya fully. 

"I mean, Josie and I were doing that to get a rise out of you and Lizzie, but you two would look good together." 

Maya doesn't answer right away, looking down at the ground in thought. A war was going on inside her mind. 

"Do you remember that girl from high school? She was on the cheer team with you. Blonde and like kinda mean?" 

Maya thinks for a second confused, "Dana?"

"Yeah! That was her. You guys had a terrible relationship, but you kept coming back to her. You have a specific type you like. Lizzie happens to fall into that category. Though she is a thousand times better than Dana was, you still have a thing for the cheerleading type."

Maya thinks over the words for a moment and oversees Hope. "Do you think if I asked her out that she would say yes?" 

"Only one way to find out. If it helps any, I think she would be perfect for you." 

The two friends hug again before Hope heads out of the bar. She has to run to the store that is down the street to pick up a few things. She leaves Maya to think over what they just talked about. 

Hope's phone rings as she's walking, and she answers it with excitement seeing the caller ID.

"Aunt Freya! How have you been!"

Her aunt begins talking on the other side of the phone; Hope listens intently as she goes to cross the road. 

Unbeknownst to her, a lone figure walks behind her, watching her every move. 

"Sorry I haven't been around too much, maybe dinner this Friday? if that works with you and Keelin."

"That sounds great. Has everything been going all right for you, Hope?"

Hope was about to reply but is hesitant at her answer. "Things have been rough, but Josie has really been helping me through everything." 

She smiles wide at the thought of the brunette, her usual response when Josie is on her mind. She's closer to the store now but still has halfway to go. 

"Has everything else been alright? no strange feelings or anything?" Hope pauses at her aunt's question, remembering all too well the dark cloud that had overtaken her. Now that her parents and uncle's death had passed, the feeling hadn't gone away as she thought it would have.

She only felt it leave when Josie was with her. Otherwise, a dark cloud hung over her, almost suffocating her with each breath she took. 

"I'm not really sure, aunt Freya. I have had a bad feeling the past couple of weeks, and it hasn't gone away, even when Mom's and Dad's deaths had passed. Do you think something is going to happen?"

Hope crosses the street one last time, almost to the store. The figure begins to get even closer than before, only a few steps behind Hope.

"Be careful, Hope. Our family has a lot of enemies. Especially your father. Remember that I'm here for you if you ever need anything." 

Hope continues past the store, walking further away from where she had wanted to go. The figure continues to follow her.

"Thanks, aunt Freya. I might need to take you up on that offer soon. Like maybe today. Give me just one second, and I'll explain further." 

Hope turns down an alleyway, the person following right after.

Hope grabs the collar of the person following her and pushes them up against the wall, her arm against their neck.

"Who the Hell are you, and why are you following me?" 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol not me acting as if I've ever seen an episode of the originals and know who characters are, if somethings wrong, no it's not 🙈

Hope presses her arms further into the neck of the man against the wall of the alleyway.

He was taller than Hope was (though that wasn't saying much), forcing the redhead to lean up to press against him. 

He hasn't answered her question yet and is beginning to piss the bartender off. Her aunt, who is still on the other line, is frantically calling out to Hope, trying to figure out what is going on, though no one could hear her.

Freya was put on speaker and silent to hear what Hope and the man said, but neither could listen to her side.

"I'm going to ask you again. Who are you, and why are you following me?" Hope was confused at the man not fighting back against her; she slowly removes some of her weight from his throat so he could speak but still keeps him pinned as much as she can.

"My name is Vincent Griffith. I'm a friend of your father and mother." 

Hope furrows her brow and scowls. "My Father didn't have friends." She can't keep the resentment from her voice. She doesn't remember ever hearing that name before.

"I'm trying to save your life and those you care about. You need to listen to me." 

Hope is forced to pause and think for a moment. The man is speaking with conviction and honesty; Hope can tell when someone is lying, and he is telling the truth. 

She moves back, so she is off his neck, but keeps herself on guard if she needs to attack. The cold metal of the knife she keeps in her combat boots is ready to be pulled out at a moment's notice. 

"Talk." 

The man rubs his throat and clears it, wincing slightly. Hope rolls her eyes once again; she didn't press THAT hard against his throat.

"As I said, I am a friend of your father's and mothers. Back when they were alive, they kept my family and me safe for many years. I wasn't able to save them, but I can protect their daughter in return." 

He looks pointedly at Hope as he speaks before continuing. "As you are aware, your mother and father were both on two sides of different "gangs," though what their families were involved in, it would be closer to that of the mafia. I worked for your mother for many years and was close to her and your father. I knew about their affair long before you came into the picture." 

Hope narrows her eyes and crosses her arms; she was getting sick of this conversation already. 

"Enough of the history lesson. I get it, you knew my parents. That doesn't answer my question of why you were following me." 

"As I was saying, I was apart of your mother's mafia group, her gang, so to speak. There were nine main families drawn together, known as the nine covens. Your mother became the head leader of the covens. Not only that, but I was the regent for the nine covens and guided those who led the coven. When your mother died, the spot of power was once again open for anyone who tried to claim it. Family is sacred in the coven, blood or not, and as such, if a leader dies, their family takes control."

"This doesn't make sense. My father and mother both were free from their groups after I was born. She couldn't have still been the head. I would have known. I was fifteen when they died."

Vincent shakes his head, a weary smile on his face. "Your mother and father both did not want you involved with their business. So they hid all of it from you." 

"Why does this matter now if my parents are no longer alive and kept me out of their business?" 

"Because, Hope, family is everything. The nine covens chose a new leader, Inadu; she is called  _ "The Hollow." _ She took charge of your mother's position and has been in charge for the past eleven years." 

Hope shakes her head once more, feeling overwhelmed at the information. She's glad her aunt can hear all of this and is being made aware of the information. She will be talking about this with her soon.

Vincent continues his monologue. "As I said before, You are the daughter of Haley Marshall and Klaus Mikaelson; you have a blood right to be the head of the nine covens. Because you were so young, you were not chosen to be the leader. Now that you are of age, that may change." 

Hope is silent, taking in the information. It's too overwhelming. She knew her family had been mixed with a bad thing. However, she had been put under the impression that all of that had been before she had been born.

"So what if I have a blood claim? I don't want it; I just want to run my bar! I want no claim to be the head of any mafia group! Whatever they want from me, they can't have it." 

"What you want or intend doesn't matter, Hope. Inadu believes you are a threat that is going to come for her throne. If you contested her, there is a chance you would win; that chance is not something she is willing to take."

He pauses before taking a breath, the seriousness of the conversation beginning to give Hope a headache. 

"This is why I followed you; there has been a hit put on you and your girlfriend. A message to be sent to everyone who tries to ever cross Inadu. If they get to either of you, you will be killed."

Hope's blood runs cold, and she can feel her heart slow down to a stop. 

"What do you mean, my girlfriend?" Her teeth are clenched, and her voice is on edge, a dark terror clinging to her words. 

"There have been people trailing you for weeks, Hope. They have pictures of you and a brunette girl kissing and seen together. You both are in danger. If they get to her, they will use her to get to you, a hostage, so to speak." 

As he says this, he pulls a folder from his jacket and shows Hope pictures of her and Josie outside her bar. There's some with them together, and some with them separate. Josie leaving work and Josie heading into her apartment scare Hope the most.

Hope can almost feel herself hyperventilate. She instantly grabs her phone from her back pocket and puts Freya back, so Hope can hear her.

"Aunt Freya, I hope you got all that and are already doing whatever it is your doing. I need to call you back. I need to call Josie." 

"Go, Hope. I'm calling friends in. I'm sending security to Josie's apartment as we speak."

Hope hangs up soon after. 

"Hey, this is Josie, sorry I missed your call, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you! Thank you!" 

The message comes through over and over again, as Hope calls Josie for the third time. 

"Come on, Josie, pick up. Pick up. I need to know if you're okay." 

Vincent stands awkwardly on the side, watching Hope freak out and unsure of what to do.

"Why is there a hit on Josie if I'm the one they're after!" She doesn't look at the man, as she keeps trying to call. 

"You are practically royalty, Hope. It's why Inadu is coming after you now; you are of age and have chosen a mate, meaning you would be prime and ready to lead our coven. Though your birth was highly controversial, your blood is sacred." 

Hope doesn't reply after that, only trying to ring Josie again. Her heart is beating faster and sinking further at each unanswered call.

After the seventh call, Hope begins to call Lizzie.

The blonde doesn't pick up the first time, almost sending Hope into a panic attack, but she picks up on the second ring.

"Mikaelson. I know you and my sister are in the lovey-dovey phase of your  _ friendship, _ but if you think for one second that you can replace me and steal my Josie time, you have another thing---" 

Hope cuts the girl off. "Lizzie. Where's Josie?" 

The other girl is quiet for a second before answering. 

"I thought she was with you. She told me she was spending time with you today and then would come back to her apartment. I assumed she forgot, or you seduced her to stay with you or whatever." 

Tears are at the edge of Hope's eyes, ready to fall as Hope's thoughts jump to the worst possible case.

"Lizzie, are you at Josie's apartment right now, or yours?" 

The blonde hesitates before answering again, sensing that something was deeply wrong. "Hope, what's going on? If Josie isn't with you, then where the hell is she?" 

"I don't know, Lizzie. But something is terribly wrong. I'm coming to you. Are you still at Josie's apartment?" 

The other half of the Saltzman twin answers the girl.

Hope turns to vincent. "I need you to go to my aunt Freya and tell the rest of whatever you have to say. If you are a true ally to me in the name of my father and mother, then you will help me find and protect Josette Saltzman." 

The man nods his head in affirmation and leaves, the address for the Mikaelson manor locked into his phone.

Hope doesn't hesitate to run back to the bar, receiving a few strange looks from those walking by.

She's there within minutes, panting and out of breath. 

"Hey, that took longer than I thought. Everything go okay?" Maya asks while smiling at Hope, but once she sees Hope's expression, she looks concerned. 

"Everyone out! We're closing early!" 

The few customers that had been there looking startled at Hope's voice but get up slowly and start to leave. 

Hope goes to Maya and sinks into the girl's arms, fighting back a sob. She only allows herself a few seconds of the embrace, needing to act. 

"Maya, we need to go to Josie's apartment. I think something bad happened. She's not answering her phone, and she never made it to Lizzie's. And Vincent said they were going to hold her hostage to get to me." 

Maya's eyes widen at the sudden drop of information. "What the hell Hope, you were gone for like thirty minutes! Who the hell is Vincent?" 

Hope doesn't explain but runs to her apartment with Maya close behind her. 

Locked away in her closet and hidden throughout the rooms in her apartment are different weapons ready for use, in case something happened. Hope pulls out some knives and sticks them into her clothes, looking for more. 

"Hope. What the hell is going on?" 

Maya pulls the redhead towards her trying to get information from her near-hysterical friend. 

"No time to explain. Josie's in danger." That's all she says as she quickly hands some knives to Maya and practically runs back downstairs where her car is waiting. Both girls hop in, Hope driving. 

She tells Maya everything that Vincent says, all the while trying to call Josie over again. The same response hits through again and again. Voicemail.

It's a miracle that Hope doesn't wreck with her paying attention to her phone and speeding recklessly. Within half the time it usually takes to get to Josie's apartment, they arrive. 

Hope barely parks the car before jumping out and running into the building, Maya trailing behind her.

She pounds on the door hard twice, her hands shaking. 

Lizzie opens the door looking worried; she has her phone in one hand, with Josie's caller ID on the screen.

Hope doesn't hesitate to wrap the blonde in her arms. Lizzie seems puzzled and shocked but reciprocates it immediately. Maya joins them as well, her arms around Hope and Lizzie hugging tightly.

"Mikaelson, what's going on?" 

Hope is still shaking but takes a deep breath. Her only thought is Josie's name on repeat in her head. 

"I think something's happened to Josie. I think she's been kidnapped." 

Lizzie looks close to tears now as well. She doesn't push Maya away when the other girl puts a comforting hand on her back. 

Before she can do anything else, her phone rings signaling Freya is calling.

"Hope. where are you?" 

"Josie's apartment with Lizzie and Maya. what did you find?"

"I sent someone to her apartment; he should be there soon to protect you. There's something you need to see. Look at your texts."

Hope does as asked and switches over to see what Freya is trying to show; her entire body freezes, and her breathing slows as she looks at the pictures. 

"These were sent to the manor less than an hour ago; the security camera shows a black car driving up to the door and dropping a folder on the ground. They were all wearing masks, and the car had no plates."

There were three pictures that Freya had sent her; the first two showed Josie tied up with rope and in a trunk of a car. The last one was a black page with white words, directed for Hope. 

_ "It's been a long time, little one. I will not have you steal what is rightfully mine. If you value the life of your lover, you will come to the place of your heritage; your life for hers. If you bring anyone, we will know, and she will die. Make your choice, little wolf."  _

_ The Hollow _

There was a time under the words, giving a time for later that night. Hope had already made a decision.

"Aunt Freya, where is the place of my heritage. I know you know where I need to go."

Maya and Lizzie are only half paying attention to Hope; Lizzie and Maya are on the phone, both in serious conversations. 

"Hope. You are not going to go there. You'll be killed." 

Freya has a stern voice out, leaving no room for argument. Hope, however, is a Mikaelson as well and holds all the stubbornness her family has. 

"I will not let her die. Where. Is. It."

"No. We are no letting her die, but we will make a plan, and I need you level headed and not jumping into a situation that will get you killed. Here is what we are going to do."

Hope listens as Freya speaks, her heart beating faster as she listens to the plan. She hates how her entire life feels like it turned upside down within a matter of hours. '

One thing she knew for sure; She was going to find Josie and kill whoever took her. 

  
  



	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, =) I'm baaaaaaaaack!
> 
> lol talk about a crazy long hiatus right? I hope this chapter makes up for me being gone and I have a ton of stuff planned for this story to finish it out! I'm so stoked about it and can't wait to give it to you guys! I have the next chapter completely done and am going to attempt to give you guys a chapter hopefully every week, if not every 10 days until it's finished, fingers crossed that I'll be able to keep up with that. 
> 
> Anyway! Hope you enjoy!!

Josie was having a terrible day. 

Sure, it started out near perfect with her girlfriend. Her beautiful and amazing girlfriend who she was halfway to being in love with... okay, who she's totally in love with already.

But then she had to be grabbed from behind and chloroform and tied up and put in a trunk. 

So as a whole, her day has been pretty shitty. 

Her head is pounding hard, as she tries to open her eyes. Of course, she's blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back. 

She struggles against her ropes to see if the bonds are loose with no luck, the ropes too tight.

She's no longer in the trunk but rather sitting somewhere in a cold and dark place. 

Even with her blindfold, she can tell that there is minimal light coming through to wherever she's at.

She fights against her bonds again and tries to remember what her dad taught her and Lizzie years ago.

_ Always try to gather what you have at your disposal. Your environment is everything. _

Josie can still feel the rope still tight against her skin, on her wrists and legs. 

She doesn't have much to work with, but she has to try.

She panics for a moment when she can't feel the ankle bracelet she always keeps around her ankle. Her lifeline to Lizzie in case something happens to either. 

She knows that whenever Lizzie realizes she's missing, she'll use it to figure out where she's being kept. 

This isn't the first time Josette Saltzman has been kidnapped before. 

When she and Lizzie were teens, they had been held captive by their crazy uncle and almost killed. 

Luckily, their dad had found them in time, but their uncle had escaped his hold, still wandering around somewhere, waiting to strike again. 

Josie half believed that he had organized this, to kidnap Josie, but it wasn't her uncle's usual MO.

What she and Lizzie did afterward was to keep a tracking device on them at all times, somewhere nondescript that wouldn't be easily noticed. 

Two anklets later, they had something to keep on them at all times for their safety in case their uncle attacked once again. 

What are the chances of being kidnapped twice in one lifetime? 

All she had wanted to do was go to Lizzie and fangirl about Hope and tell her how they started dating. 

They haven't even gone out on a first date yet! 

_ Fuck. How was she going to get herself out of this? _

She wasn't one to sit by and let herself be rescued, but being tied up and having no access to anything was a hindrance to her plan. 

She curses herself for losing focus and not paying enough attention, maybe she wouldn't be in this mess had she been paying better attention to her surroundings. 

Sure, she's being harsh on herself considering the entire situation had taken place in under ten seconds and there was virtually nothing she could have done, but still. 

All her movement stops when she hears footsteps. She freezes and tries to control her breathing. 

"She's locked in tight. Inadu has something big planned." A man's voice rings throughout the room next to Josie's. 

_ Who the hell is Inadu? _

"Well whatever her plan is, she should be careful. The youngest Mikaelson should be soon aware of her lover's disappearance."

"Do you think she'll show?" The other man scoffs loudly as if that was the most preposterous thing he had ever heard 

"you didn't see the pictures. That girl loves her and will go to the ends of the earth. The Hollow better know what she's doing. Don't ever underestimate a Mikaelson."

That's all Josie can hear before the door fully opens and the two men enter.

  
  


\---

  
  


"Dad. Something happened to Josie..." 

Lizzie begins to speak to her father and relays to him everything that had gone down in the last thirty minutes. 

She squeezes her eyes shut and holds back the tears that want to flow free. Years worth of breathing exercises and control fly out the window at the idea of Josie being hurt or worse. 

Hope is on the phone with her aunt and has been arguing with her for the past few minutes. 

_ Breath in.  _

_ Josie will be fine _

_ Breath out. _

_ She'll be fine. _

_ She'll be fine _

_ She has to be. _

_ Breath in _

Maya stands off to the side, looking more than a little worried. Watching both the girl she may like start to panic, and her best friend lose control, are something she hadn't thought she'd have to see today. 

She watches intently at what is going on and tries to figure out a way to be helpful. She has a comforting hand on Lizzie’s arm and is surprised when the blonde slips their hands to interlock together. 

She pays attention to her phone and talks animatedly to her dad, trying to get him to search the twins old room for... something.

Maya only catches the tail end of the conversation. "It'll be in there. Josie doesn't ever take it off. We both agreed to keep it on in case something like this happened again. She wouldn't ever take it off." 

Lizzie squeezes Maya's hand tightly, fear evident in her voice and her body language. Her hands are shaking in Maya's grip as she holds on tighter to the blonde. 

She looks over to Hope who is talking to Freya as well, her voice eerily calm in a way only a Mikaelson could pull off. Maya can see just how worried and stressed Hope is and will become from this. The seconds that pass by without a solution the more hectic Hope becomes. 

Maya sighs in a full-body sigh and can do nothing but watch and listen. 

Lizzie suddenly pulls away and releases Maya's hand, moving to the other side of the room. She grabs a pen frantically out of a drawer, leaving it open, and reaches for something to write on. 

"Those are the coordinates?" Lizzie's voice shakes as she speaks, but when her dad replies she sighs loudly in relief. Loud enough where Maya can hear her clearly from the other side of the room. 

"Thank God, dad. We're going to get her back, I promise. I'll call you back as soon as I know more." 

She ends the call and is coming back over with the paper in hand. 

"Mikaelson. My sister's coordinates, give these to your aunt." The blonde Saltzman shoves the paper into Hope's hand as she looks at Lizzie in confusion. 

"That's where Josie is." Maya can hear the conviction in Lizzie's voice. 

Hope hesitates for only a second, "are you sure?" Once Lizzie nods, she's grabbing the coordinates and rattling them off to her aunt. 

"We're coming to the manor now, Aunt Freya. We'll be there soon." 

Hope hangs up and looks to the both of them. "How do you know that's where Josie is?" There's a wave in her voice. 

"My sister and I were kidnapped by our crazy uncle when we were teens. He was never caught. So, we promised to always have a tracking device on each other just in case it happened again. What are the fucking odds that we actually need it?" Lizzie scoffs. 

Maya moves closer again to her and lays a hand on her shoulder. "To the manor?" She looks at Hope as she asks. 

The redhead nods, "to the manor." And with that, they're off. Hope drives again to her family home, and it's a miracle they don't wreck. Hope pays just a bit more attention to the road, but Maya can still see the anxiety and stress coiling in her shoulders. 

Lizzie as well, the taller woman has closed up into herself and seems to have built a wall. Going into a facade of someone that Maya doesn't recognize.

The ride to the manor was cut in half given how fast Hope was driving. They pull up to the long road driveway, and Hope parks haphazardly next to the house. 

All three run up the steps and enter the home quickly. 

Freya and Keelin stand talking, with a group of others there that Maya doesn't recognize. 

Freya comes to greet them, "Hope." She pulls her niece into a tight hug. Hope allows herself a moment of weakness and allows her aunt to comfort her.

They pull away and Hope goes into work mode, ready to find where her girlfriend is. 

"Do we know where she is? Did the coordinates help find her?" She's moving towards the others that she recognizes. 

One is Vincent who remains passive, nodding to her as she comes in. The other two men are family friends who she recognizes as being something closer to bodyguards. 

She gives her aunt Keelin a tight hug as well. Maya gives both Freya and Keelin one as well. 

There's a map of New Orleans with pins and places all laid out. Hope doesn't recognize them at all, but the pins and colors map the city in a specific way. 

"Do we know where she is?" She swallows hard as no one answers her question. 

"Yes, and no." Aunt Freya unhelpfully says. 

"The coordinates you gave us were cut off at this point here." Freya points to one of the main red dots on the map that was south of the city. 

"We know she is in this general area, but couldn't pinpoint the exact location. We could only see within a five-mile radius." 

"That's fine. We can have men out there looking now. Call in the entire Mikaelson connections. We have them, I know we do, with all of us searching we'll find her in no time." Hope is ready to call in every favor and do anything to get her girl back safely. 

"It's not that simple, Hope. There are politics in play that we can't disturb." Freya tries to calm her niece but isn't shocked when she is met with outrage. Hope is very much her father's daughter.

"To hell with politics! I don't care if I have to rip every house down with my bare hands. We will find her, even if it means disturbing the politics. Inadu disturbed everything when she took her." 

"Barging into enemy territory without so much as a plan will get many killed. Including Josie. I know you're angry, Hope. But right now, you need to calm down." Freya with her everlasting patience speaks calmly and clearly. 

Hope is ready to fire off more words again in argument but is stopped by both Lizzie and Maya flanking her left and right. 

"Can you find my sister, Freya? What's your plan?" Lizzie looks directly into the women's eyes, determined to find an answer. 

"We do have a plan, but it's risky. One that will require all of us, but if it works, Josie will be safe." 

Hope nods her head, already agreeing. "Tell us what we need to do." 

And with that, the plan is laid out for all of them. One that they all will hopefully have enough time to complete, as nightfall is coming, as is Hope's necessary appearance. 

\---

The bag over Josie's head is ripped from her eyes, she's momentarily blinded by the light. 

When she can see properly, a woman sits in front of her on a makeshift throne, staring at Josie with dark and soulless eyes. 

A chill runs up her spine as the woman doesn't take her eyes off of her.

Josie's body is still strapped into the chair and is unable to move as the woman raises off of the throne and begins her descent down the steps. 

"Hello, Josette. I feel it is time we finally meet, my name is Inadu. Most call me The Hollow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next scene gave me crazy Clexa vibes while writing it,


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// 
> 
> This chapter has a fight scene that I dont think is super graphic but there is also some blood, so just a warning before you read 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

The plan is supposed to be simple. Yet it feels too simple. 

Hope bites at her nails, a nasty habit she picked up in her teen years that she had thought had been forgotten. Unfortunately for her, large quantities of stress brought it back.

She paces in the Mikaelson manors living room, watching the seconds tick by, and waiting for the hour to strike eleven. When midnight hit, she was to drive to the place of her heritage, which turns out to be the main hideaway for all the gangs in New Orleans to meet. Organized crime and all that. 

There, Inadu would meet her presumably with Josie, along with dozens of her guards who would all try to kill Hope. 

The usual fun stuff she'd want to deal with. 

But according to Freya, they had a plan, they had an almost direct location of where Josie is at, and if they find her soon, they can get her out of the way so Inadu has no leverage over them. 

They have allies of her parents, both sides of their gangs that are ready and willing to back Hope up. 

Her phone begins to ring, and she answers it before the second buzz. 

"We found her." 

_ Thank God. _

Hope breathes a sigh of relief. It might have been too soon to do so. "We have sights on her, but she is being moved, we're watching her be transferred into a van and being moved to a second location." 

Hope curses and paces some more. 

Lizzie is in the other room with Maya who is trying to calm the blonde Saltzman down. 

Her aunt Freya had been explicitly clear that under no circumstances would she be allowed to go after Inadu in search of Josie. 

Hope doesn't tell her aunt that if they don't find Josie, and their plan fails, she will meet up with Inadu. She would not let Josie die.

Even if it means giving up her own life. 

"We lost her." The voice at the other end is solemn. Hope's anger rises deeply at the words and has to stop herself from throwing her phone against the wall. 

She moves into another room in the manor. One filled with weapons that she actively knows how to use. 

She will bring Josette Saltzman back if it's the last thing she does. 

"Going somewhere little wolf?" 

She doesn't turn around at Freya's voice, only continuing her search for the weapons she wishes to take. 

She adds more knives to her clothes, and looks towards all sorts of other weapons that are easily concealable. 

"I won't let her die." Her voice is said with such conviction and certainty that there is no other choice but to believe her. 

She can hear her aunt sigh behind her. "Ok. But you're not doing this alone." Hope turns towards her aunt and releases a sigh of relief. Running forward so she can throw her hands around Freya's body in what might be the last hug she gives her. 

\---

Josie had been moved from the first spot she had been in. She was awake for the second ride to a new location though she couldn't see anything. 

Those who transported her made a fatal mistake when they put her in the van.

_ They didn't check to see if her ropes were still tight. _

With all the moving and working Josie had done, the ropes were finally becoming looser and almost ready for her to be able to break free. 

She refrains herself from doing so until the perfect time, ready to make her escape. 

As the drive continues, Inadu's words echo in her head. 

_ I know who your father is. He tried to stop me, along with my coven. Though he never was able to succeed. It's about time we met.  _

Josie shakes her head at the cold words and eerie voice that brought goosebumps to her skin. 

_ My vendetta however is not with you, nor your father. We made him pay enough already, the loss of his wife almost broke him. _

Josie squeezes her eyes shut. Her and Lizzie had been told their biological mother had died during childbirth. Now, she really wasn't sure. That however, was a question and thought for another time. Preferably when her life wasn't on the line. 

After they got her into the new place, it felt the same as before, dark and cold. She had continued to work her ropes carefully when no one was watching to loosen them even more. 

She stops moving when she hears footsteps getting closer, the bag that was over her head is ripped off and artificial light shines in her eyes. 

The man who took off the blindfold is unfamiliar and wears a mask of his own. He doesn't say a word. But stalks off towards the exit. 

Now that she's able to see more, she's clearly in an underground garage of some sort. There's a cage set up in the middle of the room, where an arena seems to be. Josie doesn't want to know what that is for. 

Unfortunately for her, she has an idea. 

_ When the Mikaelson heir arrives for you, she will have an option to choose your life, or her's. My strongest warrior will be put against her, and they will fight to the death.  _

Josie swallows hard and prays Hope doesn't come for her. 

The man from before comes back to where she is and before she can do anything, checks her ropes. Seeing that they are far too loose, he tightens them, cutting off her chance of escape.

She doesn't give up Hope though, because the second he is out of sight, she begins to fight against the bounds once again.

\---

Night falls rapidly, and it's the time for Hope to arrive at the place. Her mother and father had both been the leader of their clans, when they had gotten together, the clans had joined. It made this place her birthright. 

_ Apparently. Whatever the hell that meant.  _

Guards stood outside the perimeter keeping watch. Hope releases a breath through her nose as she waits for the signal to move, waiting for the exact moment.

The sound of an explosion goes off courtesy of her aunt Freya. The men standing guard all look over to see what happened, allowing Hope the time to strike. She comes out of her hiding spot, knife in hand and keeps to the shadows to not be seen. 

She has two others with her that Freya had sent to try and keep her safe. They move onto the guards simultaneously, knocking the three out easily. Hope moves down further into the cavern, descending down darkened steps. The two behind her follow closely as they all stick to the shadows. She hears another explosion set off as Freya’s second distraction sets into place, the sound dampened as they travel further underground. 

The further they get the more Hope gets a sinking feeling that begins to set in. There were not enough guards nor anyone they have had to fight since the entryway. It was almost like Inadu was baiting her into coming down like this, waiting for an ambush.

  
  


Another turn down the concrete passageway leads to an almost pitch black room, Hope slowls her movements along with her men when they stumble upon it. Before any of them can act however, the lights come on, slowly and blinding as each one shines brightly. 

Hope shields her eyes and takes in everything. 

A fighting cage is set up in the middle, along with dozens of people who begin to shout and cheer once they see she’s arrived. 

A throne sits up on the far side of the room, elevated for a better chance to see the fighting ring and there sits one woman Hope didn’t want to ever see in person. She disregard's Inadu because sitting right next to her is her Josette, tied firmly to the chair. 

Josie has tape over her mouth so she can’t speak but she fights against her bonds the second she sees Hope. Inadu looks pleased beyond belief and holds a knife out in her hand. She stands up from her throne and walks a few steps down and lets her voice echo through the cavern, bouncing off the walls as she does.    
  


“Welcome Mikaelson heir! We have finally met.” Before Hope can speak, Inadu uses her knife and places it against Josie’s neck, stopping Hope in her place. A wave of fear courses through her as she sees this, her muscles tense. 

A wicked smiles crosses on Inadu’s face as she sees Hope stop moving. “I have a proposition for you Little Mikealson. Your life, for your loves.” Josie’s eyes widen as she tries to shake her head minutely, her actions limited byt the knife pressed against her neck. Inadu’s not finished as she continues. 

“I challenge you to a dual for your freedom. Step inside the cage little heir and face my greatest warrior. Do not say I am unfair, because if you win, I grant you life and your Josette.” Hope’s eyes flicker towards where Josie is frantically trying to shake her head and break her bonds. Inadu had moved the knife away enough for Josie to resist. 

  
_ Aunt Freya, I hope for my sake your plan works. _

In a second she makes her decision and flips inside the cage. 

Inadu’s victorious smile is answered enough as she flicks her hand and a tall man comes into view. He steps up to the cage and brings out two knives firmly in his hand. 

Hope looks over at Josie one last time, seeing the fear in her eyes and knows she will do anything to make sure they both make it out of here alive. 

Before the fight can begin, Hope is yelling out into the room. “If I die, I want your word that no harm will fall to Josette!” 

Inadu watches her with cold and calculated eyes, her lips move upwards as if she had expected that. “She will be released once your dead body hits the floor.” She snaps her fingers and the man begins to walk, slowly circling Hope as the fight has begun. 

Hope is thanking her aunts and parents for putting her in fighting training for her entire life. Because the second the man comes at her, her instincts kick in and she begins to fight. 

She pulls out her own knives and quickly brings them up to block herself as he swipes the knife through the air. Hope can feel the strength behind his slash and immediately searches for weaknesses. He steps forward and slashes the air again, but Hope moves out of the way with a roll. 

She brings the knife quickly across his calf and hops up as he yells in pain. He blindly slashes again, but Hope is able to block it. 

It doesn’t take long before he is up and fighting again, anger apparent on his face as he moves quickly and without reservation, using his strength to his advantage. 

Before Hope can act further his knife slashes along her side, cutting deep. Blood begins to soak her shirt as she cries out in pain. 

She notices movement out of the corner of her eye, but doesn’t focus on that in the least as she tries to get out of the way, pain clouding her judgement. 

She steps back only for the man to step forward and bring his knife through the air again. Hope pushes her hand up, dropping one of her knives to catch his hand, using the momentum to flip him onto the floor.

The distraction gives her time to think for a second as she’s able to pick up her knife and gets ready to act fast as he begins to stand up. She uses her strength to kick his chest which knocks him down again, giving her a second where she grabs her knife and slashes it across his chest. 

He in a blind fury kicks his leg out to trip her, Hope’s able to catch herself but leaves herself open for another attack. His knife digs deep into her stomach as she feels more blood dripping down. She doesn’t survey the damages and slashes violently and hard against the man, throwing caution to the wind. 

She lands on top of him as she falls, and pushes the knife against his throat. She’s ready to end his life and watch the life die from his eyes but is stopped by loud yelling that echoes through the chamber. 

She keeps pressure on his neck with her knife, and keeps her knees positioned where she is putting her weight on his arms, hopefully stopping him from getting up. When Hope glances up to see the cause of the yelling, Josie stands unbound and with a knife in hand, standing behind Inadu with it pressed against her neck. 

“Call off the fight! There will be no death here tonight!” Josie yells across the cavern, voice echoing. Inadu looks beyond angry but keeps her mouth shut once Josie presses the knife further into her neck. 

When she doesn't answer right away, Josie begins to slowly cut Inadu open, getting a wicked look in her eye. 

“There will be no death tonight!” A loud yelling of indignation and protest rings out among her people, but her answer is enough for Hope to hop up off the man, slowly so she doesn’t make herself bleed further. She half expects him to attack her again, but she keeps her guard ready just in case. 

Before anyone can say anything else, an explosion rocks the entire place, causing bits of the ceiling to fall and the lights to flicker. 

Confusion runs rampant through the place as people begin running to the exits as the cavern is seeming ready to collapse. 

Hope doesn’t hesitate in jumping out of the cage and running towards Josie who is still holding Inadu firmly. “Let this be a warning to you and your entire clan. If you ever attack me and my family again, I will not hesitate to slaughter you all. Do not test me.” 

At that Josie drops the woman who quickly brings a hand up to her throat as a small line of blood dripped down. The woman takes one look at the pair before getting up and running towards the exit as well, having been abandoned by most of her people.

Hope gladly takes Josie into her arms as the brunette clings to her tightly. “Josie.” Is all Hope can get out as the cavern shakes once more, sending more debris to the floor. 

Now that the immediate threat on her life is no longer a worry, Hope begins to see that her vision has gone blurry, her sight fading into a tunnel of black. 

“Hope!” She can hear Josie calling her name and frowns as she feels her body remain heavy, the loss of blood from before finally catching up to her. The last thing she sees before her eyes shut completely is Josie’s beautiful face staring down at her.

_ If I die before I get to take this gorgeous woman out on a date, I am going to raise hell. _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Jo are finally reunited!!! 😋


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Heres the next chapter of dive bar!! I'm super excited to finish this story up as we are now in the free fall to the end!! I hope you enjoy!!

Hope wakes up slowly; a light shines overhead that’s blinding. She groans loudly and tries to move but feels her entire body resist. 

She feels a slight pressure against her waist but makes no other move to shift her body and keeps her eyes closed for another moment. When she works up the motivation to open them again, she can finally make out the room she’s in. 

Apparently, she had been moved to an unfamiliar hospital room and was laying down on a bed, the white walls blinding her as she looked further. The weight she had felt on her side is one Josette Saltzman curled up with her face pressed against Hope’s stomach. 

A little bit of drool comes out from the other girl’s pouty lips, and Hope can’t stop her heart from growing three sizes. Josie stays fast asleep and looks much better than the last time Hope had seen her. 

Memories of the last day come back to her slowly, she realizes how lucky she is to be alive.

Rather than being tied up and looking terrified, Josie was fast asleep and looked peaceful. Hope didn’t want to wake her up, but there was a burning in her throat that she couldn’t take care of herself. Luckily as she shifts and moves slowly, waking her body, Josie opens her eyes.

“You’re awake.” Josie’s voice is low and scratchy. As Hope takes her in more, there’s an imprint from Hope’s hospital gown in her cheek as Josie had been pressed against her waist.

“You’re so beautiful.” she can’t stop the words as they escape her lips, enjoying how Josie’s cheeks turn red. “And you’re still a flirt even when you wake up from the brink of death.” Josie can’t keep the emotion out of her voice as she speaks, her eyes glossing over with a watery glaze. 

“Can I get you something? How are you feeling?” Hope swallows and remembers her burning throat. “Water?” She’s able to croak out a request. Josie moves instantly and grabs a cup placed on a small table next to Hope, filled with a clear liquid. Hope couldn’t stop her mouth from watering at sight. 

She tries to reach over and grab it, but a stab of pain causes her to flinch and stop the movement. “Shh, baby, you’re hurt; let me help you.” Josie brings the cup to her lips and helps her drink, which Hope is eternally grateful for. 

She feels infinitely better as she downs her drink, the burning in her throat receding minutely. 

“Thanks, Jo,” Hope speaks, her voice still rough and scratchy but felt much better. Josie brings her hand up to Hope’s cheek, smiling at her while her eyes dance around Hope’s face. “You’re welcome, baby.” 

For some reason, Josie calling her causes her to erupt in a stream of giggles, something utterly uncharacteristic of herself. Josie looks a little startled but begins to laugh as well when Hope slowly grabs the hand on her cheek and kisses the knuckles. 

She briefly wonders for a moment on what type of pain killers she's been put on.

Josie let's Hope place sloppy kisses on her hand, her heart overflowing as she watches Hope look so carefree. She quiets her laughter as she feels a slight tug on her hand, Hope with the little strength she has, she is trying to pull Josie onto her hospital bed with her. 

“Hope, I can’t get on the bed with you. We should get a nurse, so they know you’re awake.” Josie gently tries to say, but it doesn’t stop Hope’s tugging. 

“Please, Jo?” Hope pouts. Josie has to stop herself from cooing at the sight. She doesn’t know what pain medication Hope is on, but it must be strong for the redhead to openly pout with her lower lip jutted out. Josie’s heart soars and clenches tight. She wants to lay kisses all over Hope’s face. 

“Fine, but just for a little, then we get the nurse.” Hope gives her the biggest smile and cheers a little as Josie slowly and with the utmost care climbs onto the bed. Careful of all of Hope’s injuries, Josie puts almost all of her weight onto the side of the bed so she’s not touching Hope and then moves an arm around Hope’s waist.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Josie whispers and leans over to kiss Hope on the forehead. She had been so terrified of Hope not waking up and her injuries being even worse than how they looked. 

“How are you feeling?” Josie still talks in hushed whispers, afraid that the slightest noise and Hope would disappear. “Better now that you’re here.” That adorable pouty smile that reminds her of a toddler comes out again. 

“I should get the nurse, okay?” Hope pouts again, which makes Josie want to kiss the pout away. She refrains, but before she gets up, the door is opening as three people walk in. 

Josie immediately recognizes Hope’s two aunts Freya and Keelin, and the nurse that follows after. “I’m sorry, but who are you?" The nurse looks at Josie causing her heart to stop momentarily. 

The nurse continues as she watches Josie with unapproving eyes "Only family is supposed to be allowed with the patient as of now.” Josie feels her heart beat faster at the nurse’s stern voice and begins to slowly make her way off of the bed, but she’s unable to get all the way when Hope grabs her hand.

“She is family.” Hope happily supplies as everyone looks towards the redhead. “She’s my fiance.” Josie looks at Hope with wide eyes and freezes. Hope’s aunts raise their eyebrows at Hope’s exclamation, and Josie takes that as her cue to slide off, a blush sitting heavily on her face. 

The nurse takes that as an answer with slightly wary eyes as she lets Josie stay. 

“Hey Hope, how are you feeling?” Hope smiles wide as she still seems to be hyped up on the pain medication. “M’ feeling great.” 

The nurse smiles and takes some notes. Josie zones out momentarily as the nurse tries to ask Hope a few more things before leaving Hope’s aunts with Josie. 

Her cheeks still are red and burning at Hope’s earlier comment.  _ Why would Hope say they’re engaged? They haven’t even gone on a first date yet.  _

Josie bites her lip as she watches Hope closely, the nurse checking her vitals as Hope talks animatedly with her aunts.

_ I wouldn’t be opposed to marrying Hope, though… after everything we’ve already been through…. _

Josie, for a second, lets herself imagine it for just a split second fantasy of her saying yes to Hope… It sounded too perfect to be true. She shakes her head slightly as the nurse is finishing up explaining things to Hope’s aunts.

“With some therapy and rest, you’ll be back to healthy in no time. The doctor has recommended you stay here for observation for the next couple of days, but you are free to go home. Do you have someone who can stay with you during your healing process?” 

Hope opens her mouth to speak but closes it in thought. “I’m sure Maya wouldn’t mind moving in for a couple weeks…” Josie is speaking before she can even think to stop herself. 

“What if I moved in with you?” Feeling four sets of eyes turn on her causes Josie to feel extreme heat in her face and on the back of her neck. She never did enjoy having everyone’s attention on her.

“You’d be okay with that?” Hope is smiling now at her, and Josie can’t help the warmth that flows through her. All thoughts of the others disappear, and all that matters is Hope. 

“Of course, I want to help you, and I really don’t mind moving in for the next couple of weeks. At least until you’re better… As long as you don’t mind?” 

Hope is silent and just stares deeply at Josie with warmth and love in her eyes. “I love you.” Hope smiles again and doesn’t stop looking so happy, not realizing how much her words affect Josie. 

“I love you too.” Josie says and squeezes Hope’s hand as she forgets everyone else is in the room. 

The next hour passes by quickly as Hope has a few more tests done and is soon snoozing after all of them. Her aunts had promised to come by soon and visit. 

Josie manages to stay right next to Hope’s side and stays with her until she is kicked out once visiting hours are over. She still doesn’t want to leave but does as asked, only because Hope is passed out from her long day. 

She decides her next move quickly as she needs to see what else needs to be done now that she will be staying with Hope; she’ll need to pack and move things over for the next few weeks. 

Before she had left, Freya had told Josie that she can work from Hope’s apartment until Hope is feeling better, allowing her to stay with her girlfriend for as long as she needs to. Josie honestly cannot wait. She loves taking care of others, especially those she cares about.

After Josie had been rescued by Hope, Josie had been taken to the Mikaelson manor, where Hope was bandaged up and then went to the hospital. Freya told her that there would be at least two of her people watching and keeping her safe. 

After what happened not two days before, she’s eternally grateful for it. Her dad had called her in a frantic worry after he found out she was safe, as did her mom. Lizzie had been the hardest for Josie, having her sister hold on to her so tight, they basically melted into each other’s arms.

The only reason why Lizzie had left her side was that Josie had stayed with Hope at the hospital. Making sure her bartender had been okay. Now that Hope was safe and no longer in danger, Josie as well, she’s able to breathe a sigh of relief and actually allow herself to process what happened. 

Maya had been amazing at helping Lizzie and making sure the blonde was taking care of herself instead of worrying about Josie all the time. 

Josie walks into her apartment for what felt like the first time in years, but it was really only two days. As she walks in, she knows she’s safe but still feels wary of everything; Lizzie was supposed to stay with her until she goes with Hope the next day. She’s already making her way to Josie’s apartment. 

“Jo? Are you here?” As Josie walks into her room, Lizzie is coming through the door. She goes out to her room and sees her sister. They had already seen each other since, but that doesn’t stop Josie from practically running into Lizzie’s arms and melting into her sister. 

“I missed you. So much.” Lizzie mumbles into Josie’s hair, feeling tears touch her eyes. She had been terrified that she would never get to hug Lizzie again. Terrified of all the things she wouldn’t be able to do or see had she died. 

They part ways after a few long moments. “Dad and Mom called again. They really wanted to make sure both of us were okay.” Lizzie still stays close to Josie, moving her hands up and down Josie’s arms as she talks. 

“I’ll make sure to call them again in the morning.” A wave of guilt crosses deep within Josie’s stomach. She knows it shouldn’t, it wasn’t her fault she got kidnapped, and she had talked to both her mom and dad already. 

“So, movie night and cuddle session?” Lizzie says while moving to the kitchen, already thinking of warming up popcorn. “Movie night and cuddle session.” Josie says while following after. 

Once they’re settled in front of the tv, movie playing, and snacks in front of them, Josie feels more secure than she has in a long time. Maybe it has to do with the safety her sister brings her or the near-death experience she lived through, but she feels safe and happy. 

Tomorrow she’ll go back to Hope until she gets kicked out of the hospital again and then stays with Hope soon after Hope is released within the next week. 

She feels good and is ready for whatever comes next.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up we'll see helpful Josie and cute hosie and Laya moments! 💙 hope you all stay safe! Thanks for reading!!


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